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.

I kept away from the coach till the fresh
horses were on the point of starting, for I
was afraid to let Laura 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 identify
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 publicly advertise myself
as bound for. I determined to 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 Laura 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 stage, when I got down to look at
the outside passengers, there was the countryman
with the green shade over his eye.
Whatever conveyance we travelled 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 continued to ward off Laura's
growing fears, and Mrs. Baggs's indignant
suspicions. " O! 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 Laura 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 afterwards to the
nearest place from which a coach runs to
Edinburgh." Giving these orders rapidly, I
followed the girl with my travelling
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
Laura 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