t let him in, calling for a servant at the same time,
and went out and closed the door behind him.

Simultaneously with this movement, the stable-doors flew open, and the
horses sprang out upon the street, and were half a mile on their way to
one of the upper ferries, leading to Jersey City, before the officer
could get an answer to his inquiries for Mr. Belcher. Mr. Belcher had
been there only five minutes before, but he had evidently gone out. He
would certainly be back to dinner. So the officer waited until convinced
that his bird had flown, and until the proprietor was across the river
in search of a comfortable bed among the obscure hotels of the town.

It had been arranged that Talbot should secure a state-room on the
Aladdin to sail on the following day, and make an arrangement with the
steward to admit Mr. Belcher to it on his arrival, and assist in keeping
him from sight.

Mr. Belcher sent back his carriage by the uppermost ferry, ate a
wretched dinner, and threw himself upon his bed, where he tossed his
feverish limbs until day-break. It was a night thronged with nervous
fears. He knew that New York would resound with his name on the
following day. Could he reach his state-room on the Aladdin without
being discovered? He resolved to try it early the next morning, though
he knew the steamer would not sail until noon. Accordingly, as the day
began to break, he rose and looked out of his dingy window. The milk-men
only were stirring. At the lower end of the street he could see masts,
and the pipes of the great steamers, and a ferry-boat crossing to get
its first batch of passengers for an early train. Then a wretched man
walked under his window, looking for something,--hoping, after the
accidents of the evening, to find money for his breakfast. Mr. Belcher
dropped him a dollar, and the man looked up and said feebly: "May God
bless you, sir!"

This little benediction was received gratefully. It would do to start
on. He felt his way down stairs, called for his reckoning, and when,
after an uncomfortable and vexatious delay, he had found a sleepy,
half-dressed man to receive his money, he went out upon the street,
satchel in hand, and walked rapidly toward the slip where the Aladdin
lay asleep.

Talbot's money had done its work well, and the fugitive had only to make
himself known to the officer in charge to secure an immediate entrance
into the state-room that had been purchased for him. He shut to the door
a