ADAM AND EVE.



CHAPTER XXVI.


By the time Reuben May entered the little town of Looe he had come to a
decision about his movements and how he should carry out his plan of
getting back to London. Not by going with Captain Triggs, for the
monotonous inaction of a sailing voyage would now be insupportable to
him, but by walking as far as he could, and now and then, whenever it
was possible, endeavoring to get a cheap lift on the road. His first
step must therefore be to inform Triggs of his decision, and to do this
he must get back to Plymouth, a distance from Looe of some fifteen or
sixteen miles.

In going through Looe that morning he had stopped for a few minutes at
a small inn which stood not far from the beach; and having now crossed
the river which divides West from East Looe, he began looking about for
this house, intending to get some refreshments, to rest for an hour or
so, and then proceed on his journey.

Already the town-clock was striking six, and Reuben calculated that if
he started between nine and ten he should have time to take another
good rest on the road--which he had already once that day
traversed--and reach Plymouth Barbican, where the Mary Jane lay, by