How could I tell what new events had arisen, what fresh relations
might have sprung up, to attach and bind him to one particular spot
of ground? Urged by curiosity to discover all that yet remained to
know of his career, and more by a natural and strong desire to serve
the youth--not to desert him in the hour of his extremity--I resolved,
with the first hint of the doctor, to become myself the fellow
traveller of his _protege_. I told him so, and the doctor shook me by
the hand, and thanked me heartily.

That very evening we were on our road, for our preparations were not
extensive. My instructions were to carry him direct to Belton, to
ascertain, if possible, from his movements the extent of his
acquaintance with the village, and to present him at all places of
resort, in the hope of having him identified. Two days were granted
for our stay. If he should be unknown, we were then to return, and
Doctor Mayhew would at once resign him to the parish. These were his
words at parting. We had no opposition in the idiot. His happiness
was perfect whilst I remained with him. He followed me eagerly
whithersoever I went, and was willing to be led, so long as I
continued guide. I took my seat in the coach, and he placed himself
at my side, trembling with joyousness, and laughing convulsively.
Once seated, he grasped my hand as usual, and did not, through the
livelong night, relinquish it altogether. A hundred affectionate
indications escaped him, and in the hour of darkness and of quiet,
it would have been easy to suppose that an innocent child was
nestling near me, _homeward bound_, and, in the fulness of its
expectant bliss, lavish of its young heartfelt endearments. Yes, it
would have been, but for other thoughts, blacker than the night
itself--how much more fearful!--which rendered every sign of
fondness a hollow, cold, and dismal mockery. Innocence! Alas, poor
parricide!

In the morning the sun streamed into the coach, of which we were the
only inside passengers. Dancing and playing came the light, now here,
now there, skipping along the seat, and settling nowhere--cheerful
visitant, and to the idiot something more, for he gazed upon it, and
followed its fairy motion, lost in wonder and delight. He looked
from the coach-window, and beheld the far-spreading fields of beauty
with an eye awakened from long lethargy and inaction. He could not
gaze enough. And the voice of nature made giddy the sense of hearing
that drank intox