chway until they came to
the corner of Bridge Street, Blackfriars. Exactly at that point a young
woman with a baby in her arms came in contact with Mr. Bumpkin, and in a
very angry tone said,--

"I tell you what it is, don't you take them liberties with me or I'll
give you in charge."

And the young woman passed on with her baby. Just at that moment, and
while Master Bumpkin was meditating on this strange conduct of the young
female, he felt a smart tug at his watch, and, looking down, saw the
broken chain hanging from his pocket.

"Zounds!" he exclaimed, "I never zeed anything claner than thic; did thee
zee thic feller?"

"There he goes," said O'Rapley.

"There ur gooes," said Mr. Bumpkin, and, as fast as he could, pursued the
thief.

"Stop un!" he cried. "Stop thic there thief; he got my watch."

But it was a long time before Master Bumpkin's mandate was obeyed; the
value of a policeman, like that of every other commodity, depends upon
his rarity. There was no policeman to be found. There was a fire escape
in the middle of the street, but that was of no use to Master Bumpkin.
Away went thief, and away went Bumpkin, who could "foot it," as he said,
"pooty well, old as he wur." Nor did either the thief or himself stop
until they got nearly to the bridge, when, to Bumpkin's great
astonishment, up came the thief, walking coolly towards him. This was
another mystery, in addition to those mentioned by Mr. O'Rapley. But the
fact was, that the hue and cry was now raised, and although Master
Bumpkin did not perceive it, about a hundred people, men, women, and
boys, were in full chase; and when that gentleman was, as Bumpkin
thought, coolly coming towards him, he was simply at bay, run down,
without hope of escape; and fully determined to face the matter out with
all the coolness he could command.

"Take un," said Bumpkin; "take un oop; thee dam scoundrel!"

"Take care what you're saying," said the thief. "I'm a respectable man,
and there's law in the land."

"Yes, and thee shall have un, too, thee willin; thee stole my watch, thee
knows that."

"You're a liar," said the captive.

"Why thee's got un on, dang if thee bean't, and a wearin' on un. Well,
this bates all; take un oop, pleeceman."

At this moment, which is always the nick of time chosen by the force,
that is to say, when everything is done except the handcuffs, a policeman
with a great deal of authority in his appearance came up, and plunged