He jumped into a cab on quitting the prison, and drove to a solicitor’s. The interview between him and his legal adviser was marked by much excitement on the part of Nathan Gomer and evident surprise on that of the lawyer, as well as by the rapid taking of notes. When this interview terminated, Nathan flung himself once more into a cab, and was whirled away at a smart pace for a new destination. Mr. Chewkle during this period sat in the waiting-room at the railway station patiently for half-an-hour; he was amused by the coming and going of persons, by the diversity of bags and parcels moving to and fro, the contents of which he imagined and coveted, and the general activity and bustle prevailing in such a place. But when ten o’clock struck he began to fancy that he had mistaken the time appointed, and had arrived here an hour before his time. He sharply examined every person who entered, expecting to see Nathan, but eleven o’clock came and passed, and Gomer had not made his appearance. Mr. Chewkle now began to grow uneasy--he went carefully over the last night’s interview, but could not alight upon any part of it in which, to use his own language, he had “sold himself;” he, therefore, tried to content himself by assuming that Nathan Gomer had been unexpectedly detained on some important business, and he decided on allowing him the latitude of another hour. It was striking twelve when, exhausted by the dreary task of enduring three hours’ expectancy, he rose to depart, having fixed his eye upon a lady’s black leather travelling bag, which seemed to be worth taking away He advanced towards it with the air of one who was about to take possession of his own property, and hurry away with it. He had his hand upon the handle, and was in the act of making a plunge at the doorway, when he felt himself seized by the wrist, and a voice said sharply in his ear-- “Put down that bag!” He dropped it instanter, and turned to apologise for his “mistake,” to as he presumed an officer, but found that he was in the grip of Nathan Gomer. His jaw dropped, he uttered a kind of hysterical screeching laugh, and gasped out something respecting being made to wait so long without having anything to amuse him, and, at the same time, he felt inwardly convinced that the dwarf had been hiding somewhere ever since nine o’clock to have the opportunity of pouncing upon him in the very act in which he was caught. Nathan made no allusion to the discrepancy between the hour he had named to meet Chewkle, and that at which he appeared; he merely said-- “Follow me!” He quitted his hold of Chewkle as he spoke, and made his way out of the station into the street, and Chewkle followed him at the same rapid pace. Nathan made his way to a small tavern in the vicinity, and diving into a low, dark, room, motioned to Chewkle, who was at his heels--with an unpleasant suspicion that a policeman was bringing up the rear--to take a seat.