horses fell down, and everybody sat on the poor thing’s head,--people always rush and do that when a horse falls down. I wonder why?” No one ventured a theory, and William continued:-- “Well, they took us inside, and asked the most intimate impertinent kind of questions. I gave my own name, but Dilly didn’t; he had one all ready that went with the initials on his underclothes, so it wouldn’t be a give-away even if they had the nerve to go too far. What was it, Dilly? I’ve forgotten. He asked me what my occupation was, and I didn’t exactly like to tell him I was a student.” “Of course not,” assented Haydock, drily. “So I merely said ‘_rentier_.’” Haydock groaned softly in his corner. “He just looked at me,--the great big thing! I don’t think he’d ever been abroad. Oh, and before I forget it, we have to be in court at nine o’clock. Now don’t go and oversleep yourself, John, the way you do sometimes; because I must get up whether I want to or not, I suppose. Where was I? Oh, yes; after he’d asked all the questions he could think of, I wrote the note, and we waited a deuce of a while. But it wasn’t so bad after that, after the ice was broken. Then you both came--I was so relieved--and here we are ‘just off the yacht!’” Billy thought it hardly worth while to go to bed when the cab at length reached the Square. He would have preferred to utilise the short time that remained before nine o’clock in talking over his little jaunt with Dilford. He wanted to “shake” John and Haydock, and spend a pleasant hour or two at Mr. Vosler’s hotel in town, before meeting his judge. But the plan wasn’t one that he could innocently suggest; and as the senior stayed with them until they said good-night to him at the entry of Matthews, he couldn’t very well leave John without a word, as he would have done, had they been alone. Billy tumbled into bed as soon as he got upstairs, and giggled himself to sleep, after calling into John’s room,-- “You did see the sunrise, didn’t you, old man?” John lay awake until it was time to rouse Billy for his trial. At nine that morning the two criminals rolled up to the court-room, smoking cigarettes on the back seat of a victoria. They pleaded guilty to something,--neither of them quite knew what,--listened with downcast eyes to a bit of fatherly sarcasm, and drove away again--forty dollars poorer than when they arrived. That was in January.