injury, both as a man and a baffled administrator of the law, he had
immediately sought the Justice, revealed the loss of the instrument,
and procured another. Upon returning to the river, where he hoped to
triumph in the presence of those who had witnessed his disgrace,
over one whom he now regarded as an enemy, he found to his infinite
mortification that the bird had flown. He dared not follow alone, and
meditating vengeance, he kept the fatal document safely deposited
in his pocket-book, where "in grim repose" it waited for a favorable
opportunity and its prey.

On the following Monday morning, the constable met Gladding in the
street, whom he had not seen since the latter assisted him on the ice.

"How are you?" cried Tom, seizing him by the hand, and affecting the
greatest pleasure at the meeting; "how do you feel after your row,
friend Basset?"

"Oh, pretty well," answered the constable; "how is it with you?

"Alive and kicking," said Tom. "But, Basset, you hain't got the dents
out o' your hat, I see."

"No, and I don't expect they ever will come out. It's good as two
dollars damage to me," he added, taking off the hat and looking at it
with a woeful face. "You're a little to blame for it, too, Tom."

"Me! You ongrateful critter," exclaimed Gladding, indignantly. "You
want me to give you a new hat, don't ye?"

"What made you ask if I'd got the warrant?"