ill, and must still have been very ill indeed when he submitted to
be driven by any one. It was not till we had started that he told
me that I was to put him on board the Ostend boat. This I did,
driving him through the city down to the docks. It was not within
his nature to be communicative, and to the last he never told me
why he was going to Ostend. Something of a general flitting abroad
I had heard before, but why he should have flown first, and flown
so suddenly, I did not in the least know till I returned. When I got
back with the gig, the house and furniture were all in the charge
of the sheriff's officers.

The gardener who had been with us in former days stopped me as I
drove up the road, and with gestures, signs, and whispered words,
gave me to understand that the whole affair--horse, gig, and
barness--would be made prize of if I went but a few yards farther.
Why they should not have been made prize of I do not know. The
little piece of dishonest business which I at once took in hand
and carried through successfully was of no special service to any
of us. I drove the gig into the village, and sold the entire equipage
to the ironmonger for (pounds)17, the exact sum which he claimed as being
due to himself. I was much complimented by the gardener, who seemed
to think that so much had been rescued out of the fire. I fancy
that the ironmonger was the only gainer by my smartness.

When I got back to the house a scene of devastation was in progress,
which still was not without its amusement. My mother, through
her various troubles, had contrived to keep a certain number of
pretty-pretties which were dear to her heart. They were not much,
for in those days the ornamentation of houses was not lavish as it
is now; but there was some china, and a little glass, a few books,