"Just the same," she replied with a laugh; "and, ye ken, he has a right to a silver jug or twa, for he risked his neck for't as weel as Clinch." "Surely, surely." "But you're to gie me a ring to tak to her, for she's hard up, and I'll try Mr. E----e wi' 't at night, and get some shillings on't." "Certainly, Christian--not a good name that; but here," taking her by the shoulders, and turning sharply in the direction of the door--for he was afraid she might notice the wreck made in the recess,--"look out at the door, and be on the good watch for the ill-looking dog." "Ah, Abram, ye're sae clever! The deil's in them if they put saut on _your_ tail." "Here, give that to Four-toes, and tell her to keep good prisoner till I come." "Just sae--a bonny ring!" "Quick! turn to your right, and go by the Pleasance, along St. Mary's Wynd, up the High Street, to your home." "Ay," replied the woman as she departed. Not five minutes elapsed, when Jones and the two assistants with the box arrived; when the officer cried-- "Jones, follow up an old woman, in a grey duffle cloak, Christian Anderson by name, who is this moment gone down by the Pleasance, to take St. Mary's Wynd and the High Street on her way to her room, in Wardrop's Court, at the top of the stair. Having seen her landed, stop five minutes at the door, to give her time to deliver a ring to Four-toes, then step in, and take the young woman to the office. You will find Geordie Anderson there also, the notorious Squint; so pick up a man as you go, and make Squint sure." "At once, sir," replied the man, and was off. By-and-by, and just as our officer was beginning to compare the plate with the inventory, the superintendent, who had got intelligence of the discovery, came hurrying in. They found, to their astonishment, that every article was there, excepting two rings--the one, probably, that offered to the shebeen-man by Four-toes' mother, and the other that which had been presently sent to Four-toes herself. A more complete recovery was perhaps never achieved; and it was all the more wonderful from the small beginning from which the trace had been detected. Having completed the examination and packed the treasure, which was presently removed to the office, the discoverer set about examining Abram's room; but so cunningly had the whole affair of the resettership been conducted, that there was not found a trace of any kind to show his connection with the burglars. The joke of the man in reference to the process of melting had, however, had a narrow escape from being realized; for a kind of furnace had been erected with bricks, and a large crucible, sufficient to hold a Scotch pint of the "silver soup," was lying in what had been used as a coal-bunker. Meanwhile, Reid hurried in in great dejection, because the milk-woman had baffled him by going into a house in one of the wynds, and emerging by the back, and escaping.