in the affirmative, and returning his 'good night'
heard him creep away. She felt some uneasiness at the anxiety of these
men, increased by the recollection of their whispering together down
stairs and their slight confusion when she awoke, nor was she quite
free from a misgiving that they were not the fittest companions she
could have stumbled on. Her uneasiness, however, was nothing, weighed
against her fatigue; and she soon forgot it in sleep. Very early next
morning, Short fulfilled his promise, and knocking softly at her door,
entreated that she would get up directly, as the proprietor of the dogs
was still snoring, and if they lost no time they might get a good deal
in advance both of him and the conjuror, who was talking in his sleep,
and from what he could be heard to say, appeared to be balancing a
donkey in his dreams. She started from her bed without delay, and
roused the old man with so much expedition that they were both ready as
soon as Short himself, to that gentleman's unspeakable gratification
and relief.

After a very unceremonious and scrambling breakfast, of which the
staple commodities were bacon and bread, and beer, they took leave of
the landlord and issued from the door of the jolly Sandboys. The
morning was fine and warm, the ground cool to the feet after the late
rain, the hedges gayer and more green, the air clear, and everything
fresh and healthful. Surrounded by these influences, they walked on
pleasantly enough.

They had not gone very far, when the child was again struck by the
altered behaviour of Mr Thomas Codlin, who instead of plodding on
sulkily by himself as he had heretofore done, kept close to her, and
when he had an opportunity of looking at her unseen by his companion,
warned her by certain wry faces and jerks of the head not to put any
trust in Short, but to reserve all confidences for Codlin. Neither did
he confine himself to looks and gestures, for when she and her
grandfather were walking on beside the aforesaid Short, and that little
man was talking with his accustomed cheerfulness on a variety of
indifferent subjects, Thomas Codlin testified his jealousy and distrust
by following close at her heels, and occasionally admonishing her
ankles with the legs of the theatre in a very abrupt and painful manner.

All these proceedings naturally made the child more watchful and
suspicious, and she soon observed that whenever they halted to perform
outside a village alehouse