PURSUIT. 293 



horses, answering in every way the de- 

 scription given in the Hampshire Tele- 

 graph. Thither I was determined to 

 proceed, offering to take the linendraper 

 with me, free of expense, but arranging, at 

 the same time, that if we thought it ne- 

 cessary to follow in pursuit beyond that 

 place we were to share the expense. 



I then had my horse put to, drove with 

 him to Petersfield, took a second horse out 

 of the mail stables, and arrived at Reading 

 about dusk. After taking some refresh- 

 ment, my companion proceeded to find 

 the young man who had given him the 

 information, while 1 went to call on a 

 horse-dealer in the town, with whom I 

 sometimes had dealings. A little to my sur- 

 prise, he told me that "a Gent." had been 

 there that morning in a phaeton with a 

 pair of horses, wishing to sell one of them 

 or make an exchange, but as they could 

 not agree he had driven away, and, as he 

 believed, taken the road to Oxford. I 



