"At Melton Court, near Salisbury; but you must not go there."
"Yes, I will," replied Slippery Dick, waxing pugnacious, "Take the elephant fellow along, too—make him eat his words. Call my brother a thief, will he?"
"You'll do nothing of the kind," said his captor. "You're wanted here by the police."
"What!"
"Yes. For assault and battery, and disturbing the peace. They have arrested another man, a Mr. Scarsdale, by mistake in your place."
"I don't know anything about it. Never been here before to-night," protested the unregenerate one.
"Well, you must come along with me and give yourself up, or——." But Carrington never finished the sentence; for at that moment he struck the ground very hard, and by the time he realised that Slippery Dick had tripped him, that personage had disappeared into the darkness, thus justifying his sobriquet.
Jack picked himself up and struggled through the hedge; but no one was in sight, and the dull, distant sound of flying feet seemed to indicate that the Consul's brother was seeking fresh fields and pastures new with uncommon celerity.