after him till he got better. He asked me to take him up to London; and I was about to tell you about him when he ran away."
"Why did you not wish me to look into the caravan?"
"Well," said Eustace, "this tramp seemed rather nervous; I'm afraid a hard life has told on the poor soul. A strange face always made him afraid, and I thought that if you looked in suddenly, he might be alarmed. As it is---"
"As it is, he was alarmed when he did see me," burst out Hagar. "He well might be, as I know him!"
"You know him--that tramp?"
"Tramp! He is a convict--Bill Smith--the one I wrote to you about."
"What! that blackguard who was engaged in the mandarin swindle!" cried Eustace, taken aback--"who stole those diamonds! I thought he was in prison!"
"So he was; but he escaped last week. The police are looking for him."
"Who told you this, Hagar?"
"Goliath. He was in prison also, for horse-stealing; but he has just been let out--a few days ago. Bill Smith--Larky Bill as they call him--broke out, and he wants to kill Vark, the lawyer."
"Then I have unconsciously helped him to escape justice," said Lorn, in vexed tones. "I really thought he was a tramp; had I known who he was I would not have helped him. He is a brute!"
"He'll be a murderer soon!" cried Hagar, feverishly. "For heaven's sake, Eustace, repair your error by going to Scotland Yard and telling them that the man is in London! You may be able to prevent a crime."
"I'll go," said Eustace, getting on to the driving seat of the caravan. "I'll see about this tonight, and return to talk to you to-morrow. One moment"--he leaped down again--"a kiss, my dear."
"Eustace! there are people about!"
"Well, they didn't stop Bill Smith running away, so they won't object to a kiss between an engaged couple. Good-by, dearest, for the last time. To-morrow we meet to part no more."
It was in considerable agitation that Hagar returned to her pawn-shop. The coming of Goliath, the arrival of Eustace, the unexpected escape of Bill Smith--all these events crowded so rapidly into her life--in the space of an hour, as one might say--that she felt unnerved and alarmed. She did not know what the next day might bring forth, and was particularly careful in locking up the house on this night, lest the escaped convict should take it into his head to enter therein as a burglar. The next twelve hours were anything but pleasant to Hagar.
With the daylight came more assurance; also Vark and Goliath. The lean lawyer was much agitated at the news of the escape, and feared---as he well might--that his miserable life was not safe from so bitter an enemy as Larky Bill. However, his fear did not prevent him from attending to business; and the whole of that morning Hagar was busy explaining accounts and payments and receipts to Vark and Goliath. The lawyer tried hard to find fault with the administration of Hagar; to pick holes in her statements; but, thanks to the rigid honesty of the girl, and the careful manner in which she had conducted her business, Vark, to his great disgust, was unable to harm her in any way. Everything was arranged fairly, and Goliath expressed himself quite satisfied with the statement of his property. Then he made a speech.
"It seems that I have thirty thousand quid," said he, exultingly; "also a pop-shop, which I'll give the kick to. With the rhino I can set up as a gent---"
"That you can never be!" retorted Hagar, scornfully.
"Not unless you look arter me. See here, you jade, when I was poor you said naught to me; now I am rich you---"
"I say the same, Goliath. When you were an honest man I refused you; now you are a felon I---"
"Was a felon," corrected Goliath. "I'm out of quod now."
"Well, I won't marry you. I hate you!" cried Hagar, stamping her foot; "and indeed, if you must know, I'm going to marry Eustace Lorn."
"What! that puppy!" cried Goliath, in a rage.
"That man--which you aren't! I'll live in a caravan and sell books."
Here Goliath broke out into imprecations, and was hardly restrained from violence, so enraged was he. He swore that for her years of service he would not give Hagar a penny; she would leave the pawn-shop as poor as when she entered it.
"I intend to," said Hagar, coolly. "I shan't even take the mourning I wore for your father. My red dress is good enough for the caravan of Eustace; and to-morrow I'll put it on, and leave the pawn-shop forever."
This was all that Goliath could get out of her. He offered to settle the money on her, to go in a caravan round the country if she wished it; but all to no purpose. Hagar had surrendered her stewardship in such wise that not even Vark, who hated her, could find a flaw in the accounts. These things being settled, she declared that she was going away with Eustace, after one more night in the pawn-shop. First the altar and the marriage service; then the caravan and the country; and from this program Hagar never swerved.
That same evening Eustace came to see Hagar, and told her that he had given notice at Scotland Yard of Smith's escape, and that the police were now looking for him. While they were talking over this, Vark, pale and scared-looking, made his appearance. He told the engaged pair a piece of news which astonished them not a little.
"I went to the police about Smith," said he, rubbing his lean hands together, "and I found out that not only one convict escaped, but two."
"Two!" cried Hagar; "and the second?"
"Is Goliath--your friend Jimmy Dix. He got three years, not two; and he broke prison with Larky Bill."
"What a fool to come here!" cried Eustace, recovering from his surprise.
"On the contrary, I think he was very wise," said Hagar; "only I knew him as Goliath, and under that name he was arrested and sentenced. As James Dix, the heir of Jacob, the owner of thirty thousand pounds, no one would suspect him of being an escaped convict. But how did he get rid of his prison clothes?"
"The police told me," grinned Vark. "The two broke into a house and stole suits to fit 'em. Bill Smith was wounded by a steel trap, so hid in the ditch where Mr. Lorn found him. Goliath came up here boldly to get his money. If I hadn't heard his description at Scotland Yard I should never have suspected him."
"Did you tell them he was here?" asked Lorn, sharply.
"No; but I'll do so unless he gives me half his money--fifteen thousand pounds. If he does, I'll smuggle him over to America. If he doesn't---"
"Well," said Hagar, "if he doesn't, you Judas?"
"I'll give him up to the police."
"You beast!" cried the girl, furiously, "you low reptile! You make capital out of everything. Goliath has conferred nothing on you but benefits; why, he warned you about Smith, and so gave himself into your hands; yet you would betray him!"
"I thought you hated the man!" quavered Vark, astonished at this outburst.
"So I do; but I think you might let him enjoy his money in peace. If he has been in jail, he hasn't deserved it half so much as you."
"I want half his money," said the lawyer, sullenly.
"What
