"
The man uttered a strange cry, and flinging himself upon his knees
buried his face in his hands.
"Come," I said, tapping him on the shoulder; "take off those things,"
and nodding to the Imp, he immediately began unwrapping Peter's
garments.
"What, master," cried the convict, starting up, "are you goin' to
let me see 'im afore you give me up?"
"Yes I nodded; "only be quick? In less than live minutes the
tattered prison dress was lying in the bed of the river, and we
were making our way along the path towards old Jasper's cottage.
The convict spoke but once, and that as we reached the cottage
gate: "is he very ill, sir?"
"Very ill," I said. He stood for a moment, inhaling the fragrance
of the roses in great breaths, and staring about him; then with an
abrupt gesture he opened the little gate, and gliding up the path
with his furtive, stealthy footstep knocked at the door. For some
half hour the Imp and I strolled to and fro in the moonlight,
during which he related to me much about his outlaw and the many
"ruses he had employed to get him provision.
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