houlder; "and you take my advice, don't you go back to him."

"No," said Esau; "he wouldn't have us if we wanted."

"What are you going to do, then?"

"Join the Royal Artillery," said Esau, importantly.

"Join the Royal Nonsense, boy!" said the big, bluff constable. "Better
be a p.c. than that. Plenty of gents in the city want clerks."

"Then," said Esau, "they shan't have me."

But he did not say it loud enough for the constable to hear, the words
being meant for me, and after once more shaking hands with us the man
said, "Good-bye," and we were out in the busy streets once more--as it
seemed to me, the only two lads in London with nothing to do.

I was walking along by Esau's side, low-spirited in spite of our
acquittal, for everything seemed so novel and strange, when Esau, who
had been whistling, looked round at me.

"Now then," he said, "will you come with me?"

"Where?"

"Woolwich. 'Tillery."

"No. And you are not going."

"Oh, ain't I?"

"No," I said. "You are going home. Your mother must be very anxious
about us."

"I'd forgotten all about her," cried Esau. "I say, look: here's old
Demp."

If I had obeyed my first inclination I should have turned down the first
street to avoid our late employer; but I kept on boldly, as he came
towards us, and I expected that he would go by, but he stopped short,
and looked from one to the other.

"Oh, here you are," he said; "look out, my lads, I have not done yet.
If you think I am going to be beaten like this, you are--"

"Come on, Esau," I whispered, and we did not hear the end of his threat.

"There!" cried Esau. "Now what do you say? He'll be giving us into
custody again. 'Tillery's our only chance. He daren't touch us there.
But I say, he isn't going back to the office. Let's run and get what's
in our desks. There's my old flute."

"I thought you did not want to be given into custody again?" I cried.
"Why, if we go and try to touch anything there, and he catches us, he is
sure to call in the police."

"Never thought o' that," said Esau, rubbing one ear. "I say, don't be a
coward. Come on down to Woolwich."

"You go on directly to your mother and tell her all about it."

"I say, don't order a fellow about like that. You ain't master."

"You do as I tell you," I said, firmly.

"Oh, very well," he replied, in an ill-used tone. "If you say I am to,
I suppose I must. Won't you come too?"

"No; I'm going up to see Mr John Demps