of them burst into a laugh as
they looked at the two faces in the mirror.

"You will do, sir," the man said. "It would need a sharp pair of eyes to
detect the difference between us."

"Yes, I think that will do," Will said, "and to aid the deception I will,
as I go in, use my handkerchief and pretend to have a bad cold."

"Is there a basket-maker's near?" Will asked the barber.

"Yes, sir, first turning to the right, and first to the left, two or three
doors down, there is a small shop."

"I want you at once to go and choose one the size and shape of your own,"
Will said to his companion. "When you see one, set the man to work to
weave a false bottom to it. I want it to lodge so as to leave a recess
four or five inches deep. Have it made with two handles, so that it can be
lifted in and out. How long would he be doing it, do you think?"

"About an hour and a half, I should say."

"Very well; order the man to send it round to the George, wrapped up in
paper, to the address of Mr. Earnshaw. When you have done this, come back
here. We cannot go into the street together; our singular resemblance
would at once be noticed."

"Now," Will said to the pedlar when he returned, "meet me on the road a
hundred yards from where it turns down to Porchester; bring a stock of
goods with you, and I will put them in my basket. Of course you will bring
your pass, and the clothes you now have on in a bundle. I will change
there; as far as I have seen it is very seldom that anyone passes that
way."

Will then went for a walk, and when it became quite dark he took off his
wig and whiskers and went into the town again. Here he bought a long rope,
very slender, but still strong enough to support a man's weight, and a
grapnel which folded up flat when not in use. Then he went to the George,
having wrapped a muffler round his face as if he were suffering with
toothache. His basket was standing in the hall.

"I shall not return this evening," he said, "so I will pay my bill."

Then, having bought a suit of ready-made sailor's clothes, with hat
complete, he put them into his basket, hired a vehicle, and drove to
Fairham. In the morning at nine o'clock he walked along the main road
towards Cosham till he reached the turning to Porchester, went down it a
couple of hundred yards, and sat on a grassy bank till he saw the pedlar
approaching.

"It is a foggy morning," the huckster said when he came up.

"So much the better. I hope it will