the absurd wager, and after a moment's consideration of the forty pounds
to be won, declared:--

"I'll win the pot if I have to go to Edinburgh!"

"And you, Churchill?" asked Crofts.

"You're a pack of fools, but I'll go," replied Churchill, knocking the
ashes from his pipe.

They drank their bowl of punch and immediately set off for the St. Albans
road.

"The Oxford road is nearer than the St. Albans. Why not take it?" asked
George.

"You said you were going to Edinburgh," returned Wentworth, "and,
besides, the St. Albans road is our wager, and that is the one we'll
take, unless you want to turn back and forfeit your stake."

To the St. Albans road they started, Crofts, Berkeley, and Wentworth
walking perhaps two hundred yards in advance of Churchill and Hamilton.
The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the night was so dark that
Hamilton and Churchill could not see the advance guard, though they heard
a deal of talking, laughing, and cursing ahead of them. This order of
march was what Crofts and his friends desired, for of course the wager
was not on their minds. They were hoping for something greater, and
would have been glad to release Churchill and Hamilton had they offered
to turn back. But lacking that good fortune, the valiant three evidently
hoped to meet the coach and rob it before the others came up, in which