"You quite understand me, then;" Mr. Sharp was speaking in a low clear voice; "you are not to say a word to Cripps about it. He is true enough to me, because he dare not be otherwise; but he is an arrant coward. I want a man who has the spirit to defy the law, when he knows that he is well backed up." "Governor, I am your man for that. I have defied the law, since I were that high, with only my mother, in the wukuss, to back me." "What I mean is, to defy the wrong fashions of the law; the petty rules that go against all common sense and equity." "All the fashions of the law be wrong. I might a' got on in the world like a house afire, if it hadn't been for the devil's own law. To tell me a thing is agin the law is as good as an eyster to my teeth. Go on, governor, no fear of that, I say." "And you know where to find, at any moment, a man as resolute as yourself--Joe Smith. Well, you know what you have to do, in case of any sudden stir arising. At present all goes well; but all, at any moment, may go wrong. Squire Overshute is about again at last----" "Ah, if I could only come across of he of a dark night, such as this be----" "And that fool Cinnaminta has told him all she knows--which, luckily, is not very much. I took good care to keep women out of it. And the Carrier too has been smelling about--but he hasn't the sense of his own horse. Night and day, George, night and day, keep a look-out, and have the horses ready. You know what I have done for you, my man." "Governor, if it hadn't been for you, I might a' seed the clouds through a halter loop." "You speak the truth, and express it well. And you may still enjoy that fair opportunity, unless you attend to every word I say." "No fear, governor; I know you too well. A good friend and a bad enemy you be. Thick and thin, sir--thick and thin. Agin all the world, sir, I sticks by you." "Enough for to-night, my man. Get ready and be off. I shall know where to find you, as before. I shall ride over to-morrow, if I find it needful." With these words, Mr. Luke Sharp set off at a good round pace for Oxford, while the other man shambled and whistled his way homewards up the black-mouthed lane. Perceiving these things, Christopher Sharp, with young bones, leaped from his hiding-place. Astonishment might have been read upon his ingenuous and fat countenance, if the lighting committee of the corporation had carried out their duty. But (having no house of their own out here) they had, far back, put colophon upon the nascent gas-pipe. The ambition of the city, at that time, was to fill all the houses of the citizens, and extend in no direction. But though his countenance, for want of light, only wasted its amazement, Kit--like Hector with his windpipe damaged, but not by any means perforated--gave issue to his sentiments. Unlike Hector--so far as we know--Kit had been forming a habit of using language too strong for ladies.