No sooner was he gone than I whipped back to the other fellow, who I suppose had fainted from pain, for he lay quite still where he had fallen. But he was armed, as I knew, for I had heard the leader tell the two of them not to hesitate to shoot. I had run risks enough, and more than enough for my liking, on this eventful evening; so, partly to equip myself with a weapon, in case of the other man's discovering my ruse and returning, partly to disarm the gentleman on the ground, in the event of his recovering consciousness sufficiently to join in the pursuit of me, I slipped my hand into his pocket in search of fire-arms. The first thing on which I lighted was, strangely enough, a pair of handcuffs, and, under the impulse of the moment, I snapped them around the unconscious man's wrists. Then, having possessed myself of his weapon--an ugly revolver--I walked to the fence and looked over it, in preparation to vault. The river washed almost to the fence's foot, and, but for the fact that a boat was fastened to a stake driven into the mud, my retreat would have been entirely cut off. Evidently Parker and Smudgy must have taken a boat from somewhere to get round to the back of the place. That, then, was what the leader had meant when he spoke of the "yard," and had urged them to "put their backs into it." Oh, well! the boat which had served their purpose would serve mine. But stop a minute. No one was coming from the house, where I could still hear the besiegers battering at the kitchen door. It was a daring idea, this of mine! But why shouldn't I carry it out? To take a prisoner, instead of myself being taken prisoner or being murdered, would be to turn the tables on my enemies with a vengeance. The man was unconscious; he was handcuffed; and even if he proved to be heavy, I knew myself to be fairly strong. Kneeling on one knee, I raised his insensible body so that his head and chest and trunk lay inertly over my left shoulder, where I could best bear the weight. The next thing to do was to get upon my feet. It was not easy of accomplishment, for the man was heavily built, and I, though tall, am somewhat slight. But I managed it at last, and staggered to the fence, upon which I hoisted my burden, where he lay for all the world like a straw-stuffed Guy Fawkes, his silly head and his body and shoulders lolling helplessly towards the river, his hips and legs hanging down limply on the side of the fence that faced the house. Then I scrambled over myself, muttering, "You come along o' me to Westminster, my pretty. A man who can hang both sides of a fence, as you can, is wasted outside of Parliament."