Five or six shillings was all that the
poor lass possessed, but they took that paltry sum. Only, when she pled
hard that they should leave her at least a trifle to take to her mother,
who was very poor, one of the footpads relented, and with a gruff, "Hey,
then!" thrust three coins back into her not unwilling hand. With a
mixture of joy and fear the girl fled into the darkness, but as she ran,
she thought she heard a shout, and soon, to her consternation, she made
certain that hurrying footsteps were coming up behind her. In dire
terror now, she left the road, and crept into some bushes in an adjacent
hollow. There, with thumping heart, she cowered whilst two men ran
past, and presently, whilst she still lay hid, they returned, vowing
loud vengeance on some person who had "done" them. It was long ere the
poor girl dared leave her shelter, late ere she got home to tell her
tale to an anxious mother. But when the three rescued shillings were
produced, the cause of the robbers' anger was not far to seek; they were
not shillings that came this time from the depths of a capacious pocket,
but three golden guineas.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
When the skipper of some small coastal trading craft is able to retire
from leading a sea-faring life, it is usually within close range of the
briny, tarry whiffs that with every breeze come puffing from the harbour
of some little port out of which he has formerly traded that he sets up
his shore-going abode.
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