"Oh, no! No!" She clutched him in terror.
"By this time they have found out that you are gone," he said, "and they will be racking their brains to think how. They will find the door locked. They will find the window leading into my room bolted on the inside. They will think that you have fallen upon the lines, and been found—the first thing they are dead certain to do is to go to the railway station to make inquiries. That gives us a bit of a start. If nobody saw us go away together, they will be very hard up for a clew. I left my letters on the table, and I poured away the laudanum out of the mug. They will be fairly puzzled to know what has happened."
She had recovered her breath, and she asked tremulously, "What are you going to do?"
"The only thing I can think of is to take you to a friend of mine, who is at times in charge of the hay wharf at the canal basin at Limehouse. If he is there he will let us sleep in the hay, and to-morrow I must turn to and earn a few coppers. Have you any change left out of your shilling?"
"Three-halfpence."
"That will do us. We will have two halfpenny 'bus rides down this road, close by, and, after that, it is only five minutes' walk to the wharf."
"And what if your friend is not there?"
"We must try and hide somewhere," he replied. "But let us hope for the best."
"I will pray that he may be there," said Rona, with simplicity.
When they emerged from the omnibus, at the end of their ride, one halfpenny represented the joint capital of the firm.