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188 and lame from the unaccustomed exercise, turned down the hill by the church of the quiet village, and plodding along the little street, crept into a small public-house, whose scanty light had guarded them to the spot. There was a fire in the taproom, and some country labourers were drinking before it. ‘They made room for the stranger, but he sat down in the farthest corner, and eat and drank alone, or rather with his dog, to whom he cast a morsel of food from time to time. The conversation of the men assembled here turned upon the neighbouring land and farmers, and when these topics were exhausted, upon the age of some old man who had been buried on the previous Sunday; the young men present considering him very old, and the old men present declaring him to have been quite young— not older, one white-haired grandfather said, than he was, with ten or fifteen years of life in him at least—if he had taken care; if he had taken care. There was nothing to attract attention or excite alarm in this. The robber, after paying his reckoning, sat silent and unnoticed in his corner, and had almost dropped asleep, when he was half wakened by the noisy entrance of a new-comer. and half mountebank, who travelled about the country on foot to vend hones, strops, razors, washballs, harness-paste, medicines for dogs and horses, cheap perfumery, cosmetics, and such-like wares, which he carried in a case slung to his back. His entrance was the signal for various homely jokes with the countrymen, which slackened not until he had made his supper and opened his box of treasures, when he ingeniously contrived to unite business with amusement. “ And what be that stoof—good to eat, Harry?” asked a grinning countryman, pointing to some composition cakes in one corner. ‘'This”—said the fellow, producing one, s this is the infallible and invaluable composition for removing all sorts of stain, rust, dirt, mildew, spick, speck, spot, or spatter, from silk, satin, linen cambric, cloth, crape, stuff, carpet, merino, muslin, bombazeen, or woollen stuff. Wine-stains, fruit-stains, beer-stains, water-stains, paint-stains, pitch-stains, any stains—all comes out at one rub with the infallible and invaluable composition. a lady stains her honour, she has on! cured at once—for it’s poison. Ifa gentlernan wants to prove his, he has only =z, need to bolt one little square and he has put it beyond question—for it’s quite as satisfactory as a pistol-bullet, and a great deal nastier in the flavour, consequently the more credit in taking it. One penny a square. With all these virtues, one penny a square.” There were two buyers directly, and more of the listeners plainly hesitated. The vender observing this, increased in loquacity. “It’s all bought up as fast as it can be made,” said the fellow. “ There are fourteen water-mills, six steam-engines, and a galvanic battery, always working upon though the men work so hard that they die off, and the widows is pensioned directly with twenty pounds a year for each of the children, and a premium of fifty for twins. One penny a square, two half-pence are all the same, and four farthings is received with joy. One penny a square. Wine-stains, fruit-stains, beerstains, water-stains, paint-stains, pitchstains, mud-stains, blood-stains—here is a stain upon the hat of a gentleman in company that I’ll take clean out before he can order me a pint of ale.” “Ha!” cried Sikes, starting up, “ give that back !” 6 [911 take it clean out, sir,” replied the man, winking to the company, “ before you can come across the room to get it. Gentlemen, all, observe the dark stain upon this gentleman’s hat, no wider than a shilling, but thicker than a half-crown. Whether it is a wine-stam, fruit-stain, beer-stain, water-stain, paint-stain, pitchstain, mud-stain, or blood-stain 2 The man got no further, for Sikes, with a hideous imprecation, overthrew the table, and, tearing the hat from him, burst out of the house. With the same perversity of feeling and irresolution that had fastened upon him despite himself, all day, the murderer finding that he was not followed, and that they most probably considered him some drunken sullen fellow, turned back up the town, and getting out of the glare of the lamps of a stage-coach that was standing. in the street, was walking past, when he recognised the mail from London, and saw that it was standing at the little postofice. He almost knew what was to come, but he crossed over and listened. The guard was standing at the door waiting for the letter-bag. A man dressed like a game-keeper came up at the moment, and he handed him a basket which lay ready on the pavement.
