Meanwhile, Mr.Kneebone, having been alarmed by something in the widow's look before her feelings found vent in the manner above described, thrust his hand instinctively into his coat in search of his pocket-book,--about the security of which, as it contained several letters and documents implicating himself and others in the Jacobite plot, he was, not unnaturally, solicitous,--and finding it gone, he felt certain he had been robbed.

Turning quickly round, in the hope of discovering the thief, he was no less surprised than distressed--for in spite of his faults, the woollen-draper was a good-natured fellow--to perceive Jack Sheppard in custody.

The truth at once flashed across his mind.

This, then, was the cause of the widow's wild inexplicable look,--of her sudden shriek! Explaining his suspicious in a whisper to Jack's captor, who proved to be a church-warden and a constable, by name John Dump,--Mr.Kneebone begged him to take the prisoner into the churchyard.

Dump instantly complied, and as soon as Jack was removed from the sacred edifice, his person was searched from head to foot--but without success.