devote yourself entirely to this business. You have
served a good apprenticeship, and for our sake as well as yours I should
be glad for you to have it in hand."

"I shall be very pleased to do so, sir. Although we do not know where he
is to be found, I think I can say that it is not in the slums of
London; it seems to me that he may be quietly settled as an eminently
respectable man almost under our noses; he may show himself occasionally
at fashionable resorts, and may be a regular attendant at horse races.

"He would not run any appreciable risk in doing so, for his face is
quite unknown to anyone except the constables who were present at his
trial, and even these would scarcely be likely to recognize him, for he
was then but eighteen, while he is now six or seven and twenty, and no
doubt the life he has led must have changed him greatly."

"I quite agree with you," the chief said. "After the first hunt for him
was over, he might do almost anything without running much risk. Well,
I put the matter in your hands, and leave it to you to work out in your
own way; you have given ample proof of your shrewdness and pluck, and
in this case especially I know that you will do everything that is
possible. Of course you will be relieved of all other duties, and if it
takes you months before you can lay hands upon him, we shall consider it
time well spent, if you succeed at last. From time to time change your
quarters, but let me know your address, so that, should I learn anything
that may be useful, I can communicate with you at once. You had better
take another name than that by which you are known in the force. I shall
be glad if, after thinking the matter over, you will write me a few
lines stating what you propose to do in the first place."

Mark went back to his lodgings, and sat there for some time, thinking
matters over. His first thought was to attend the races for a time, but
seeing the number of people there, and his own ignorance of Bastow's
appearance, he abandoned the idea, and determined to try a slower but
more methodical plan. After coming to that conclusion he put on his hat
and made his way to Mrs. Cunningham's.

"Well, Mr. Constable," Millicent said saucily, as he entered, "any fresh
captures?"

"No, I think that I have for the present done with that sort of thing; I
have served my apprenticeship, and am now setting up on my own account."

"How is that, Mark?"

"There is reason to believe that Bastow