and covered with dirt,
would infallibly cause him to be secured and delivered into the hands of
justice. And then the fetters, which were still upon his legs:--how was
he to get rid of them?

Tired and dispirited, he still wandered on. Again returning to the main
road, he passed through Clapton; and turning off on the left, arrived at
the foot of Stamford Hill. He walked on for an hour longer, till he
could scarcely drag one leg after another. At length, he fell down on
the road, fully expecting each moment would prove his last.

How long he continued thus he scarcely knew; but just before dawn, he
managed to regain his legs, and, crawling up a bank, perceived he was
within a quarter of a mile of Tottenham. A short way off in the fields
he descried a sort of shed or cow-house, and thither he contrived to
drag his weary limbs. Opening the door, he found it littered with straw,
on which he threw himself, and instantly fell asleep.

When he awoke it was late in the day, and raining heavily. For some time
he could not stir, but felt sick and exhausted. His legs were dreadfully
swelled; his hands bruised; and his fetters occasioned him intolerable
pain. His bodily suffering, however, was nothing compared with his
mental anguish. All the events of the previous day rushed to his
recollection; and though he had been unintentionally the cause of his
mother's death, he reproached himself as severely as if he had been her
actual murderer.

"Had I not been the guilty wretch I am," he cried, bursting into an
agony of tears, "she would never have died thus."

This strong feeling of remorse having found a natural vent, in some
degree subsided, and he addressed himself to his present situation.
Rousing himself, he went to the door. It had ceased raining, but the
atmosphere was moist and chill, and the ground deluged by the recent
showers. Taking up a couple of large stones which lay near, Jack tried
to beat the round basils of the fetters into an oval form, so as to
enable him to slip his heels through them.

While he was thus employed a farming man came into the barn. Jack
instantly started to his feet, and the man, alarmed at his appearance,
ran off to a neighbouring house. Before he could return, Jack had made
good his retreat; and, wandering about the lanes and hedges, kept out of
sight as much as possible.

On examining his pockets, he found about twenty guineas in gold, and
some silver. But how to avail himself of it was