and then she left, sayin' she'd go back to 'er old
'ome in York, for she was sure the old lady must have returned there.
So _that's_ the reason w'y I'm goin' to recruit my 'ealth in the north,
d'ye see? But before I go wouldn't it be better that you should make
some inwestigations at the hospital?"

I heartily agreed to this, and went without delay to the hospital,
where, however, no new light was thrown on the subject. On the
contrary, I found, what Slidder had neglected to ascertain, that the
name of the girl in question was _not_ Edie Willis, but Eva Bright, a
circumstance which troubled me much, and inclined me to believe that we
had got on a false scent; but when I reflected on the other
circumstances of the case I still felt hopeful. The day of Edie's
disappearance tallied exactly with the date of the robbing of the girl
by Brassey and the Slogger. Her personal appearance, too, as described
by the Slogger, corresponded exactly with the description given of her
granddaughter by Mrs Willis; and, above all, the sending of a messenger
from the hospital by the girl to inquire for her "grandmother, Mrs
Willis," were proofs too strong to be set aside by the mystery of the
name.

In these circumstances I also resolved to take a holiday, and join Robin
Slidder in his trip to York.

CHAPTER TEN.

A DISAPPOINTMENT, AN ACCIDENT, AND A PERPLEXING RETURN.

But the trip to York produced no fruit! Some of the tradespeople did,
indeed, remember old Mrs Willis and her granddaughter, but had neither
seen nor heard of them since they left. They knew very little about
them personally, and nothing whatever of their previous history, as they
had stayed only a short time in the town, and had been remarkably shy
and uncommunicative--the result, it was thought, of their having "come
down" in life.

Much disappointed, Slidder and I returned to London.

"It is fortunate that we did not tell granny the object of our trip, so
that she will be spared the disappointment that we have met with," said
I, as the train neared the metropolis.

My companion made no reply; he had evidently taken the matter much to
heart.

We were passing rapidly through the gradually thickening groups of
streets and houses which besprinkle the circumference of the great city,
and sat gazing contemplatively on back yards, chimney cans, unfinished
suburban residences, pieces of waste ground, back windows, internal
domestic arrangements, etcetera, as