a walk. “Or will you go forward, and let me send them to your address through post?”
“It’s not that I care much for the purse, but the documents are of great importance to me. Let me consider what will be the best plan to adopt.”
He laid his finger on his lips, and thought for a few moments.
“I have it!” said he, brightening up. “A train for Tunstone passes here in five minutes from this time. Jobson, will you return by it, and obtain the purse and the papers? We must let the 11.45 go on without us; but there is another train at 12.30 from Tunstone which stops here—you will just have time to get the articles and return by it. We will meet it at the station here, and go forward by it, after paying you for your trouble, and you will return home with the mare. Will you so far oblige me?”
Such a request it was impossible to refuse. We saw the train approaching. I jumped out of the trap, ran to the station and took my ticket; and, looking out of the window as the train started, I saw Mr. Oldwink drawing up at the door of the railway hotel, and preparing to alight.
When I got out of the train at Tunstone, who should I see on the platform but Mr. Purkiss. He gave me a nod and held up his finger; but, as I had no time to lose, I pretended not to have seen him, and dived into the crowd; but when I reached the door, there he was again.
“Mr. Jobson, I want to speak to you a minute.”
“Can’t stay now, Mr. Purkiss. Another time I shall be most happy.”
“Another time won’t do. Now listen to me. Where have you left Mr. Oldwink?”
“I don’t know what right you have to ask the question, but I left the gentleman you name at Deepwood.”
“Did he pay his bill before leaving the Red Lion?”
“Certainly he did. But really, Mr. ”
“Now don’t lose your temper. He paid you with a twenty-pound Bank of England note, did he not?”
“He did.”
“The note is a forged one. Got it about you?”
“No; it’s at home.”
“Well, I tell you again, it’s a forged one; and, more than that, that your friend, Mr. Oldwink, is one of the most notorious swindlers in the three kingdoms.”
You might have knocked me down with a cork when I heard Mr. Purkiss say these words.
“And who are you, sir?” I at length contrived to stammer out. “And how came you to know all these things?”
“I am an officer of the Detective Force. I have had my eye on Mr. Oldwink for some time, but he is such a slippery customer that it was difficult to prove anything against him. I tracked him to your house; and then, as I was quite a stranger to him, I took up my quarters there, in order to watch him more closely. But he began to suspect me after a while, as did you also, Job-son, in another fashion; so that I found it advisable to leave the Red Lion. But I did not lose sight of my gentleman; for though you thought I had left the town, I was, in reality, snugly located at the Green Dragon, opposite your house; where I received confidential communications from your wife respecting Mr. Oldwink, by a trusty messenger, every two hours during the day. Don’t look so wild, Jobson, or people will think you are losing your wits. Well, this morning I was informed that Oldwink was going to make a few purchases previous to leaving Tunstone by the 11.45 train; so I set my man to watch him, and note all the shops he favoured with his custom. As soon as he was housed again in the Red Lion, I took a banker’s clerk with me, and went the same round he had taken. The result was, that we found he had purchased nearly a hundred pounds’ worth of jewellery at different shops, together with a small parcel of valuable velvets; for all of which he had paid with forged notes, receiving the change in gold and silver. This done, I posted off to the station, expecting to nab my gentleman on the platform with the property on him. But he was too deep for me: the 11.45 departed, and he never came; and my man has just been down to inform me that he and you had set off by road. And now I’m off to Deepwood by the train, which starts in five minutes; so do you just get a nip of brandy to keep your clockwork in order, and then go back with me; and slippery as he is, see if I don’t lay hold of him yet.”
Judge what my feelings were while I listened to Mr. Purkiss’s story. I was ready to bite my thumbs off with vexation.
When we reached Deepwood, no Mr. Oldwink was to be seen; and my companion laughed at me when I expressed my surprise at not finding him there.
“To think you should expect such a thing!” said he. “Why he is miles off by this time, unless your mare has broken down.” Here was another blow for me, for I had had no idea that he would take off with my mare. “It would not do for him to travel by rail,” added Mr. Purkiss, as an afterthought. “He was afraid of the telegraph.”
We found on inquiry at the railway inn, that the old scamp had stayed there about five minutes only, to bait the mare, and take some refreshment; and then, after asking a few questions respecting the roads, had set off at a good pace northward. In three minutes we had a gig out, a horse in the shafts, and ourselves seated behind it; and after learning which road the fugitives had taken, set off after them as hard as we could go.
“And Mrs. Oldwink, what of her?” said I to my companion.
“Birds of a featheryou know the rest,” he replied, biting off the end of a cigar.
It was a raw and bitter afternoon, with showers of sleety rain at intervals. The horse that carried us along was a good one, pretty near equal to my mare, and fresh to begin with. So on we went, over hill and dale, through a very wild and lonely country; every mile, as it seemed, leading us farther away from any town or village; and with but one wayside inn to break the solitude, at which we stayed for a few minutes