disprove it, and never will. I now leave because I have been
discovered by a bad man, who will certainly take advantage of having
fallen in with me. We may never meet again. I can say no more,
except that I shall always pray for you and Mrs McShane, and remember
your kindness with gratitude.

"Yours truly, JOEY MCSHANE."

Since his return from Saint Petersburg, Joey had always, by their
request, called himself Joey McShane, and he was not sorry when they
gave him the permission, although he did not comprehend the advantages
which were to accrue from taking the name.

Joey, having finished his letter, sat down and cried bitterly--but in a
school there is no retiring place for venting your feelings, and he was
compelled to smother his tears. He performed his exercise, and repeated
his lessons, as if nothing had happened and nothing was about to happen,
for Joey was in essence a little stoic. At night he went to his room
with the other boys; he could only obtain a small portion of his
clothes, these he put up in a handkerchief, went softly downstairs about
one o'clock in the morning, put his letter, addressed to McShane, on the
hall-table, opened the back door, climbed over the play-ground wall, and
was again on the road to seek his fortune.

But Joey was much improved during the two years since he had quitted his
father's house. Before that, he was a reflective boy; now, he was more
capable of action and decision. His ideas had been much expanded from
the knowledge of the world gained during his entry, as it were, into
life; he had talked much, seen much, listened much, and thought more;
and naturally quiet in his manner, he was now a gentlemanlike boy. At
the eating-house he had met with every variety of character; and as
there were some who frequented the house daily, with those Joey had
become on intimate terms. He was no longer a child, but a lad of
undaunted courage and presence of mind; he had only one fear, which was
that his father's crime should be discovered.

And now he was again adrift, with a small bundle, three guineas in his
pocket, and the world before him. At first, he had but one idea--that
of removing to a distance which should elude the vigilance of Furness,
and he therefore walked on, and walked fast. Joey was capable of great
fatigue; he had grown considerably, it is true, during the last two
years; still he was small for his age; but every muscle in his body was
a wire, a