“Tell us what lay you had been on,” said Bill, “that made the runners so hot after you?”
“Oh, only a—a robbery—a little robbery,” said Gray, with a sickly attempt at a smile.
“Oh, that was all?”
“Yes; a robbery of two hundred pounds, of which you are to have one, you know, and to leave me the other.”
“That’s quite agreed.”
The door was now again opened, and the old woman appeared with a tray containing sundry viands from neighbouring shops dealing in ready-cooked victuals. Wine and brandy likewise formed a part of her burthen, and in a very few moments the table was spread, and Gray, who really, now that he felt himself comparatively safe, began to be tormented by the pangs of hunger, fell to with a vigorous appetite, upon a cold tongue of ample dimensions.
“How do you like it?” said Bill, with a wink to his comrade.
“’Tis excellent,” replied Gray, glancing towards the bottles.
“You will take wine now?”
“If you please.”