arness my little gry and be off to the
town."

At a whistle which I gave, the little gry, which was feeding on the bank
near the uppermost part of the dingle, came running to me, for by this
time he had become so accustomed to me that he would obey my call for all
the world as if he had been one of the canine species. "Now," said I to
him, "we are going to the town to buy bread for myself, and oats for
you--I am in a hurry to be back; therefore, I pray you to do your best,
and to draw me and the cart to the town with all possible speed, and to
bring us back; if you do your best, I promise you oats on your return.
You know the meaning of oats, Ambrol?"

Ambrol whinnied as if to let me know that he understood me perfectly
well, as indeed he well might, as I had never once fed him during the
time he had been in my possession without saying the word in question to
him. Now, Ambrol, in the Gypsy tongue, signifieth a pear.

So I caparisoned Ambrol, and then, going to the cart, removed two or
three things from out it into the tent; I then lifted up the shafts, and
was just going to call to the pony to come and be fastened to them, when
I thought I heard a noise.

I stood stock still, supporting the shaft of the little cart in my hand,
and bending the right side of my face slightly towards the ground; but I
could hear nothing. The noise which I thought I had heard was not one of
those sounds which I was accustomed to hear in that solitude--the note of
a bird, or the rustling of a bough; it was--there I heard it again--a
sound very much resembling the grating of a wheel amongst gravel. Could
it proceed from the road? Oh no, the road was too far distant for me to
hear the noise of anything moving along it. Again I listened, and now I
distinctly heard the sound of wheels, which seemed to be approaching the
dingle; nearer and nearer they drew, and presently the sound of wheels
was blended with the murmur of voices. Anon I heard a boisterous shout,
which seemed to proceed from the entrance of the dingle. "Here are folks
at hand," said I, letting the shaft of the cart fall to the ground: "is
it possible that they can be coming here?"

My doubts on that point, if I entertained any, were soon dispelled: the
wheels, which had ceased moving for a moment or two, were once again in
motion, and were now evidently moving down the winding path which led to
my retreat. Leaving my cart, I came forward and placed myself near the
en