be it,' said Jowl. 'A drop of comfort here. Luck to
the best man! Fill!' The gipsy produced three tin cups, and filled
them to the brim with brandy. The old man turned aside and muttered to
himself before he drank. Her own name struck upon the listener's ear,
coupled with some wish so fervent, that he seemed to breathe it in an
agony of supplication.

'God be merciful to us!' cried the child within herself, 'and help us
in this trying hour! What shall I do to save him!'

The remainder of their conversation was carried on in a lower tone of
voice, and was sufficiently concise; relating merely to the execution
of the project, and the best precautions for diverting suspicion. The
old man then shook hands with his tempters, and withdrew.

They watched his bowed and stooping figure as it retreated slowly, and
when he turned his head to look back, which he often did, waved their
hands, or shouted some brief encouragement. It was not until they had
seen him gradually diminish into a mere speck upon the distant road,
that they turned to each other, and ventured to laugh aloud.

'So,' said Jowl, warming his hands at the fire, 'it's done at last. He
wanted more persuading than I expected. It's three weeks ago, since we
first put this in his head. What'll he bring, do you think?'

'Whatever he brings, it's halved between us,' returned Isaac List.

The other man nodded. 'We must make quick work of it,' he said, 'and
then cut his acquaintance, or we may be suspected. Sharp's the word.'

List and the gipsy acquiesced. When they had all three amused
themselves a little with their victim's infatuation, they dismissed the
subject as one which had been sufficiently discussed, and began to talk
in a jargon which the child did not understand. As their discourse
appeared to relate to matters in which they were warmly interested,
however, she deemed it the best time for escaping unobserved; and crept
away with slow and cautious steps, keeping in the shadow of the hedges,
or forcing a path through them or the dry ditches, until she could
emerge upon the road at a point beyond their range of vision. Then she
fled homeward as quickly as she could, torn and bleeding from the
wounds of thorns and briars, but more lacerated in mind, and threw
herself upon her bed, distracted.

The first idea that flashed upon her mind was flight, instant flight;
dragging him from that place, and rather dying of want upon the
roadside, than