still identified him, did not return the
compliment. He simply surmised that Mr.
Nobble had changed his mindabout taking
a place in the mail.

"Yes, I have. I'm not going by the mail."
Then he paused a minute. "I'll tell you
plump and plain where I am going to. I'm
going to the White Horse at Pentridge to
meet the Captain, I am."

The stranger heard this with surprise and
showed some alarm.

"Come, come," said Nobble; "you needn't
be frightened; one little word will put you
and me quite upon thesquare. But here
comes the mail: wait till she passes, and then
I'll mention it." In another minute Mr. Flip
had parted the speakers with his team at a
canter; his coach-lamps glimmering in the
damp, commencingtwilight. When the
equestrians joined again in the wake of the mail,
Nobble leant to one side of his saddle
confidingly, and whispered, "Rivets!"

His companion hesitated before he gave
the countersign.

"The truth is," he said, "I belong to no
society, and have no secrets. What I do
politically, I do from motives quite
independent of any man—"

"Except Lord Wordley," interrupted the
other sneeringly; "I know all about you;
though you may believe that Idon't.
You are the gentleman they call the Young
Squire. You were going straight home to
Crookston; but one of the letters you
received at the bar of the Royal George
gave you our countersign, and persuaded you to
go to the Pentridge meeting instead."

"You are a delegate, perhaps," replied
the person addressed, trying to conceal his
surprise.

"Yes, I am. An Eastern delegate, and I
say again—Rivets!"

"Double-headed!" was the answer.

After a pause, during which each was
considering what direction the conversation
should take, now that the relations towards
each other were necessarily more confidential,
Nobble attributing his companion's silence to
mistrust, said fiercely, "I tell you what, I
don't hold with the snivelling of you Nobs
on our side; one bit: it's rank cowardice.
It's my belief that you're going to persuade
the Nottingham Captain to turn tail."

"I am not accountable to you, sir, for my
proceedings," said the so-called Young
Squire.

"Perhaps not." Mr. Nobble added, "I did
not see you at the Nottingham meeting last
night."

"I was not there," was the answer. Mr.
Nobble smiled. "But I know exactly what
was done." Mr. Nobble frowned and growled.

He passed a minute moodily and in silence;
then broke out with:

"Well, it's of no use your coming into
these parts to pour cold water upon a good
cause. The Captain has got his men together,
up to the mark. Well armed, mind you,
and he means to do it. We mean to do it
to-night. You're too late down here—you or
any of your Nobs either—with hang-back
speeches and cold-bloodes persuasions about
patience, and consitutional proceedings."

"We try to convince the people of the
Truth: to undo the monstrous deceptions
some of their leaders are palming upon
them," said the Young Squire; "and,
although I have taken no part in politics
lately- having been abroad—I shall go on
trying."

"Don't try that game on with the Captain,
or you'll get the worst of it," rejoined Nobble,
hoarsely. "The blood of his people is up—
boiling over ; and you'd better not cool it
down, I can tell you."

"Whether you mean that as a menace or
a warning," returned the gentleman, firmly,
"is of no consequence. I am not here to
quarrel with any man."

"Perhaps you're afraid."

The Young Squire was not bound to hear
this insult, for they had overtaken groups of
working men and boys;some talking
earnestly as they walked; some clashing pikes
awkwardly over their shoulders. Others
carcried long black links as big as bludgeons, to be
lighted up by-and-by, as torches. A few were
snapping the locks of muskets and pistols, to
try them. There was noise enough to drown
a louder growl than Mr. Nobble's.

They both dismounted at the White Horse
at Pentridge. An ostler took charge of the
thorough-bred, and led itto the stable; but
the young Squire said he was going on
immediately, and had his old grey tied to a ring in
the horse-trough; for which purpose, way was
made for it by the loiterers that hung
about the house, and were fast augmenting.
Each new comer inquired if anything had
been done; or, if not, if anything was to be
done, and was answered that the Captain
and the tithering men were still deliberating
in the parlour. Perhaps the gentlemen on
horseback had brought the word they were
waiting for.

When Nobble entered the inn parlour,
the Nottingham Captain was studying,
by the light of a single candle, a map, which
had displaced beer-jugs and pipes upon the
slopped and gritty table.

"Yes" he said to the men standing round,
as he traced a route with his finger. "We
must sweep the villages round, first. From
every house one man and one gun, and no less.
At Lane End, the Wingfield men will meet us.
Then, on to the Butterley Iron Works for
cannon, and as many men as we can get: then
to Topham's Close, through Ripley and
Condor to pick up the Swanwick men. After
that, in a body through Alfreton, Somercotes,
over Pye Bridge, to East-wood. There, in
Nottingham Forest, all the Nottingham boys
are assembled thousands. The town will be
ours in half an hour."