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 reach, I left him mumbling to himself, and went back to my bedroom to pack my few clothes.

"Bigg," said I to myself, "you're going to make a journey to-morrow. It may be that you're going to Brussels, it may be that you're going to Paris—but go you must; and where the ready is to come from, you don't quite know. Nicky couldn't rake fifty together to save his life, and you haven't got a shilling to your back."

Things were now in such a state that this question of money troubled me more than any thing. Look where I would, I didn't see how we were to get enough to keep afloat for a week on the other side; and when I remembered that we should have to cut in a hurry, things seemed as bad as they could be. That we must go, I never had a doubt. Once Heresford was in the house, Sir Nicolas Steele would leave it smart enough. It remained to see if the man would come.

You may imagine that I didn't get much sleep that night. It was six o'clock in the morning before I closed my eyes, and then I overslept myself by an hour, not going into Sir Nicolas' room until half-past eight. The others were already up, and what should I see from the staircase window but Reubens, the constable, talking to Mr. Oakley and his daughter on the grass by the lake.

"Hallo!" said I; "what's brought you here? No good to us, I'm sure." And with that to give me a twinge, I went into my master's bedroom.