use where they rested, Wood made inquiries concerning the
Hayes family; was informed of the death of the old couple, of the
establishment of John Hayes and his wife in their place, and of the kind
of life that these latter led together. When all these points had been
imparted to him, he ruminated much: an expression of sublime triumph and
exultation at length lighted up his features. "I think, Tim," said he at
last, "that we can make more than five pieces of that boy."

"Oh, in coorse!" said Timothy Macshane, Esquire; who always agreed with
his "Meejor."

"In coorse, you fool! and how? I'll tell you how. This Hayes is well to
do in the world, and--"

"And we'll nab him again--ha, ha!" roared out Macshane. "By my secred
honour, Meejor, there never was a gineral like you at a strathyjam!"

"Peace, you bellowing donkey, and don't wake the child. The man is well
to do, his wife rules him, and they have no children. Now, either she
will be very glad to have the boy back again, and pay for the finding of
him, or else she has said nothing about him, and will pay us for being
silent too: or, at any rate, Hayes himself will be ashamed at finding
his wife the mother of a child a year older than his marriage, and will
pay for the keeping of the brat away. There's profit, my dear, in any
one of the cases, or my name's not Peter Brock."

When the Ensign understood this wondrous argument, he would fain have
fallen on his knees and worshipped his friend and guide. They began
operations, almost immediately, by an attack on Mrs. Hayes. On hearing,
as she did in private interview with the ex-corporal the next morning,
that her son was found, she was agitated by both of the passions which
Wood attributed to her. She longed to have the boy back, and would give
any reasonable sum to see him; but she dreaded exposure, and would pay
equally to avoid that. How could she gain the one point and escape the
other?

Mrs. Hayes hit upon an expedient which, I am given to understand, is not
uncommon nowadays. She suddenly discovered that she had a dear brother,
who had been obliged to fly the country in consequence of having joined
the Pretender, and had died in France, leaving behind him an only son.
This boy her brother had, with his last breath, recommended to her
protection, and had confided him to the charge of a brother officer who
was now in the country, and would speedily make his appearance; and, to
put the story beyond a doubt, Mr. Woo