ands, youngster,' cried he to Santron, who at once complied with the
order, and the press captain bent over and scanned them narrowly. As he
thus stood with his back to me, the woman shook her head significantly,
and pointed to the ladder. If ever a glance conveyed a whole story
of terror hers did. I looked at my companion as though to say, 'Can I
desert him?' and the expression of her features seemed to imply utter
despair. This pantomime did not occupy half a minute. And now, with
noiseless step, I gained the ladder, and crept cautiously up it. My
fears were how to escape those who waited outside; but as I ascended I
could see that they were loitering about in groups, inattentive to all
that was going on below. The shame at deserting my comrade so nearly
overcame me, that, when almost at the top, I was about to turn back
again. I even looked round to see him; but, as I did so, I saw the press
leader draw a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and throw them on the
table. The instincts of safety were too strong, and with a spring I
gained the street, and, slipping noiselessly along the wall, escaped the
'lookout.' Without a thought of where I was going to, or what to do, I
ran at the very top of my speed directly onwards, my only impulse being
to get away from the spot. Could I reach the open country I thought
it would be my best chance. As I fled, however, no signs of a suburb
appeared; the streets, on the contrary, grew narrower and more
intricate; huge warehouses, seven or eight storeys high, loomed at
either side of me; and at last, on turning an angle, a fresh sea-breeze
met me, and showed that I was near the harbour. I avow that the sight of
shipping, the tall and taper spars that streaked the sky of night, the
clank of chain-cables, and the heavy surging sound of the looming hulls,
were anything but encouraging, longing as I did for the rustling leaves
of some green lane; but still, all was quiet. A few flickering lights
twinkled here and there from a cabin window, but everything seemed sunk
in repose.

The quay was thickly studded with hogsheads and bales of merchandise, so
that I could easily have found a safe resting-place for the night, but
a sense of danger banished all wish for sleep, and I wandered out,
restless and uncertain, framing a hundred plans, and abandoning them
when formed.

So long as I kept company with Santron, I never thought of returning to
'Uncle Pat'; my reckless spendthrift companion had t