, disturbed from their slumbers by the
early move. Horses were being put to, and men were running to and fro,
but Alick and Ned felt shy of accosting any one of them.

They hung back and watched eagerly.

'Hilloa, you two shavers! Whatever do you want loafing round here at
this time o' morning? Say, can't yer?'

The shrill, loud voice came from the window of a house-caravan, and a
woman's head, stuck all over with curl-papers, was thrust out to stare
intently at the new-comers.

'We are going up to London--on business,' said Alick, mustering up
courage, and speaking as manfully as he could. 'And,' he moved up
closer to say, 'we thought that, perhaps, you would give us a lift as
far as you could. I'll give you a shilling!'

The boy spoke with the air as though shillings were plentiful enough.
But, in truth, he had only two half-crowns of his own in the world;
they were the entire amount of his savings, which he had brought on
setting forth in life.

The woman with the curl-papers stared hard down at the two young
strangers before she answered, not so ill-naturedly--

'Well, I don't much mind, if so be as one of you gits on these yer
steps, and has a ride along of us. The t'other can git on to one of
the beasteses' vans at the back. 'Twon't break no bones if you do, as
I can see.' With a reassuring nod, she then withdrew her curl-papers
into the interior of her moving home.

'You'd best go aside her, I suppose, Muster Alick,' whispered Ned.
'I'll hang on to that van yonder;' and he took himself off in the
direction to which the woman had seemed to point.

'The missus said as I might have a ride on the back of this van,' said
he, meekly enough, to a man in his shirt-sleeves, who was too busy with
the bars of the van to look up at the speaker.

'All right! If so be as she says so, it's got to be, I reckon!' he
growled; and Ned swung himself up behind, trying hard to make out, as
the procession moved off slowly and ponderously at last, what sort of
beasts were on the other side of the boards he was leaning against.
Suppose they were lions, or suppose the boards got loose? The
fisher-lad, whom storm and tempest on the deep could not dismay, felt a
bit creepy. Setting his ear close to the wood, he could distinctly
hear hideous growls, as if some savage creature, maddened by hunger,
were ready to break out and leap upon him. What would granny say if
she could dream of his situation? But dashing his hand