part of Mrs Twitter's remarks with a
sarcastic laugh, "no, madam, she's not _your_ baby _yet_!"

As she sat reflecting on this agreeable fact, a heavy step was heard
approaching. It was too slow for that of Ned. She knew it well--a
policeman!

There are hard-hearted policemen in the force--not many, indeed, but
nothing is perfect in this world, and there are a _few_ hard-hearted
policemen. He who approached was one of these.

"Move on," he said in a stern voice.

"Please, sir, I'm tired. On'y restin' a bit while I wait for my
'usband," pleaded Mrs Frog.

"Come, move on," repeated the unyielding constable in a tone that there
was no disputing. Indeed it was so strong that it reached the ears of
Ned Frog himself, who chanced to come round the corner at the moment and
saw the policeman, as he imagined, maltreating his wife.

Ned was a man who, while he claimed and exercised the right to treat his
own wife as he pleased, was exceedingly jealous of the interference of
others with his privileges. He advanced, therefore, at once, and
planted his practised knuckles on the policeman's forehead with such
power that the unfortunate limb of the law rolled over in one direction
and his helmet in another.

As every one knows, the police sometimes suffer severely at the hands of
roughs, and on this occasion that truth was verified, but the policeman
who had been knocked down by this prize-fighter was by no means a feeble
member of the force. Recovering from his astonishment in a moment, he
sprang up and grappled with Ned Frog in such a manner as to convince
that worthy he had "his work cut out for him." The tussle that ensued
was tremendous, and Mrs Frog retired into a doorway to enjoy it in
safety. But it was brief. Before either wrestler could claim the
victory, a brother constable came up, and Ned was secured and borne away
to a not unfamiliar cell before he could enjoy even one pipe of the
"baccy" which he had purchased.

Thus it came to pass, that when a certain comrade expected to find Ned
Frog at a certain mansion in the West-end, prepared with a set of
peculiar tools for a certain purpose, Ned was in the enjoyment of board
and lodging at Her Majesty's expense.

The comrade, however, not being aware of Ned's incarceration, and
believing, no doubt, that there was honour among thieves, was true to
his day and hour. He had been engaged down somewhere in the country on
business, and came up by express train f