CHAPTER II.
The Burglary at Dollis Hill.
Thames Darrell's fears were not, however, groundless.

Danger, in the form he apprehended, was lurking outside: nor was he destined to enjoy long repose.

On receiving the warning note from the ostler, Jack Sheppard and his companion left Willesden, and taking--as a blind--the direction of Harrow, returned at night-fall by a by-lane to Neasdon, and put up at a little public-house called the Spotted Dog.

Here they remained till midnight when, calling for their reckoning and their steeds, they left the house.
It was a night well-fitted to their enterprise, calm, still, and profoundly dark.

As they passed beneath the thick trees that shade the road to Dollis Hill, the gloom was almost impenetrable.