her child.

"I have no present need of money, darling," I answered; "keep the
box in its present enviable position." I stopped there, saying

nothing of the thought that was really uppermost in my mind. If
any unforeseen accident placed me within the grip of the law, I

should not now have the double trial to endure of leaving my wife
for a prison, and leaving her helpless.

Morning dawned and found us still awake. The sun rose, Mrs. Baggs
left off snoring, and we arrived at the last stage before the

coach stopped.
I got out to see about some tea for my traveling companions, and

looked up at the outside passengers. One of them seated in the
dickey looked down at me. He was a countryman in a smock-frock,

with a green patch over one of his eyes. Something in the
expression of his uncovered eye made me pause--reflect--turn away

uneasily--and then look again at him furtively. A sudden shudder
ran through me from top to toe; my heart sank; and my head began

to feel giddy. The countryman in the dickey was no other than the
Bow Street runner in disguise.

I kept away from the coach till the fresh horses were on the
point of starting, for I was afraid to let Alicia see my face,

after making that fatal discovery. She noticed how pale I was
when I got in. I made the best excuse I could; and gently

insisted on her trying to sleep a little after being awake all
night. She lay back in her corner; and Mrs. Baggs, comforted with

a morning dram in her tea, fell asleep again. I had thus an
hour's leisure before me to think what I should do next.

Screw was not in company with the runner this time. He must have
managed to ident ify me somewhere, and the officer doubtless knew

my personal appearance well enough now to follow and make sure of
me without help. That I was the man whom he was tracking could

not be doubted: his disguise and his position on the top of the
coach proved it only too plainly.

But why had he not seized me at once? Probably because he had
some ulterior purpose to serve, which would have been thwarted by

my immediate apprehension. What that purpose was I did my best to
fathom, and, as I thought, succeeded in the attempt. What I was

to do when the coach stopped was a more difficult point to
settle. To give the runner the slip, with two women to take care

of, was simply impossible. To treat him, as I had treated Screw
at the red-brick house, was equally out of the question, for he

was certain to give me no chance of catching him alone. To keep
him in ignorance of the real object of my journey, and thereby to

delay his discovering himself and attempting to make me a
prisoner, seemed the only plan on the safety of which I could

place the smallest reliance. If I had ever had any idea of
following the example of other runaway lovers, and going to

Gretna Green, I should now have abandoned it. All roads in that
direction would betray what the purpose of my journey was if I

took them. Some large town in Scotland would be the safest
destination that I could publiclyadvertise myself as bound for.

Why not boldly say that I was going with the two ladies to
Edinburgh?

Such was the plan of action which I now adopted.
To give any idea of the distracted condition of my mind at the

time when I was forming it, is simply impossible. As for doubting
whether I ought to marry at all under these dangerous

circumstances, I must frankly own that I was too selfishly and
violently in love to look the question fairly in the face at

first. When I subsequently forced myself to consider it, the most
distinct project I could frame for overcoming all difficulty was,

to marry myself (the phrase is strictly descriptive of the Scotch
ceremony) at the first inn we came to, over the Border; to hire a

chaise, or take places in a public conveyance to Edinburgh, as a
blind; to let Alicia and Mrs. Baggs occupy those places; to

remain behind myself; and to trust to my audacity and cunning,
when left alone, to give the runner the slip. Writing of it now,

in cool blood, this seems as wild and hopeless a plan as ever was
imagined. But, in the confused and distracted state of all my

faculties at that period, it seemed quite easy to execute, and
not in the least doubtful as to any one of its probable results.

On reaching the town at which the coach stopped, we found
ourselves obliged to hire another chaise for a short distance, in

order to get to the starting-point of a second coach. Again we
took inside places, and again, at the first stages when I got

down to look at the outside passengers, there was the countryman
with the green shade over his eye. Whatever conveyance we

traveled by on our northward road, we never escaped him. He never
attempted to speak to me, never seemed to notice me, and never

lost sight of me. On and on we went, over roads that seemed
interminable, and still the dreadful sword of justice hung

always, by its single hair, over my head. My haggard face, my
feverish hands, my confused manner, my inexpressible impatience,

all belied the excuses with which I desperately" target="_blank" title="ad.绝望地；拼命地">desperately continued to ward
off Alicia's growing fears, and Mrs. Baggs's indignant

suspicions. "Oh! Frank, something has happened! For God's sake,
tell me what!"--"Mr. Softly, I can see through a deal board as

far as most people. You are following the doctor's wicked
example, and showing a want of confidence in me." These were the

remonstrances of Alicia and the housekeeper.
At last we got out of England, and I was still a free man. The

chaise (we were posting again) brought us into a dirty town, and
drew up at the door of a shabby inn. A shock-headed girl received

us.
"Are we in Scotland?" I asked.

"Mon! whar' else should ye be?" The accent relieved me of all
doubt.

"A private room--something to eat, ready in an hour's
time--chaise afterward to the nearest place from which a coach

runs to Edinburgh." Giving these orders rapidly, I followed the
girl with my traveling companions into a stuffy little room. As

soon as our attendant had left us, I locked the door, put the key
in my pocket, and took Alicia by the hand.

"Now, Mrs. Baggs," said I, "bear witness--"
"You're not going to marry her now!" interposed Mrs. Baggs,

indignantly. "Bear witness, indeed! I won't bear witness till
I've taken off my bonnet, and put my hair tidy!"

"The ceremony won't take a minute," I answered; "and I'll give
you your five-pound note and open the door the moment it's over.

Bear witness," I went on, drowning Mrs. Baggs's expostulations
with the all-important marriage-words, "that I take this woman,

Alicia Dulcifer for my lawfulwedded wife."
"In sickness and in health, in poverty and wealth," broke in Mrs.

Baggs, determining to represent the clergyman as well as to be
the witness.

"Alicia, dear," I said, interrupting in my turn, "repeat my
words. Say 'I take this man, Francis Softly, for my lawfulwedded

husband.' "
She repeated the sentence, with her face very pale, with her dear

hand cold and trembling in mine.
"For better for worse," continued the indomitable Mrs. Baggs.

"Little enough of the Better, I'm afraid, and Lord knows how much
of the Worse."

I stopped her again with the promised five-pound note, and opened
the room door. "Now, ma'am," I said, "go to your room; take off

your bonnet, and put your hair as tidy as you please."
Mrs. Baggs raised her eyes and hands to heaven, exclaimed