They took no notice of this appeal, except that one of two ill-dressed men amongst the well-dressed ones said to the other: "Old Perry is really rather overdoing it. He'll be had up for tampering with justice if he's not careful." "Then why don't you get him taken up now?" I asked. But they looked at me coldly and turned away. "Mr. Perry," said the ragged man, "this is a dangerous criminal. Will you let the constable drive him to the police station, and walk back with us?" The old humbug of whom this remarkable request was made turned up a sanctimonious face, and replied: "I am in my proper place amongst the low and degraded. Let the prisoner drive with me." There were murmurs of astonishment at this, and one of the poor-looking men said to my ragged one: "Oh, let him alone! He'll get tired of it by and by." I was then ordered into the carriage, and we drove off at a foot's pace, the other carriages turning back to accompany us, and the crowd walking behind and on either side. I was surprised to see that the country was very different from what I had imagined it to be when I had come through the cave. Before that, as I have said, there had been few signs of human habitation; but now I had suddenly come into a populous country-side, and seemed to be not far from a town of some size. For we were passing large houses in large gardens, villas, and cottages; and the road, which had been of the roughest, was wide and smooth, and there was a good deal of traffic on it. I could not make out in the least where I had come to. I had known that I could not be many miles off the village of Eppington, but could think of no considerable town within a radius of fifty miles of where I had spent the night; and I knew I could not have walked that distance. I might have put a question to my companion; but I was so annoyed that I could not bring myself to address him. It was he who first addressed me. He was still ostentatiously smoking his rich cigar, and looked at me out of a bilious, but impudently benevolent eye, and said: "Young man, I would have saved you if I could. I think you must now be convinced of that. It may be that in the exercise of my charity I have overstepped the mark, and have done wrong. It now only remains for you to show your gratitude by keeping what has passed to yourself. If a charge is brought against me, I look to you to shield my good name, or my sphere of influence may be much diminished." My reply to this preposterous piece of cant was a somewhat violent assurance that I should see that he got the punishment he deserved. He held up his fat hands in pained astonishment, and thereafter kept silence. CHAPTER II