Page 296 - A Jacobite Exile

"We shall keep on searching," Charlie said. "He may have gone out of town
for some reason, and may return any day. We shall not give it up till

spring."

"Well, at any rate, sirs, I will take your money no longer. You know your
way thoroughly about now, and, if at any time you should want me, you
know where to find me. It might be worth your while to pay a visit to

Islington, or even to go as far as Barnet. The fellow may have done
something, and may think it safer to keep in hiding, and in that case

Islington and Barnet are as likely to suit him as anywhere."

The young men had, some time before, left the inn and taken a lodging.

This they found much cheaper, and, as they were away from breakfast until
midnight, it mattered little where they slept. They took the advice of their

guide, stayed a couple of nights at Islington, and then went to Barnet. In
these places there was no occasion to visit the taverns, as, being
comparatively small, they would, either in the daytime or after dark, have

an opportunity of meeting most of those living there.

Finding the search ineffectual, Charlie proposed that they should go for a
long walk along the north road.

"I am tired of staring every man I meet in the face, Harry. And I should
like, for once, to be able to throw it all off and take a good walk together, as

we used to do in the old days. We will go eight or ten miles out, stop at
some wayside inn for refreshments, and then come back here for the night,
and start back again for town tomorrow."

Harry at once agreed, and, taking their hats, they started.

They did not hurry themselves, and, carefully avoiding all mention of the
subject that had occupied their thoughts for weeks, they chatted over their

last campaign, their friends in the Swedish camp, and the course that affairs
were likely to take. After four hours' walking they came to a small wayside

inn, standing back twenty or thirty yards from the road.