Alicia stood by in silence. The little room felt close and hot. She was tired and worn out, for she had spent the morning writing a letter that seemed very hard to write.
"Mightn't we go into the garden?" she asked. "There's no danger to us, is there, Mr. Flemyng?"
"Oh dear, no, Miss Derosne. They're only thinking of Big Todd. I'll go on if you don't want me, Lady Eynesford."
He trotted off and overtook the rest just as they came in sight of the prison. The crowd was thick round it.
"By heaven, they've got the door open!" cried Heseltine.
They had. The heavy door hung on its hinges, and, as the Governor drew nearer, he saw the prisoner, Big Todd himself, in the centre of the crowd. There were near three thousand there, almost all men; most had sticks, here and there the sun caught the gleam of a knife or the glint from a revolver-barrel. A rude kind of rampart of the tables and chairs from the gaol formed a slight makeshift barricade, and behind it, the crowd, backed by the building, stood waiting for the attack.
The Governor halted.
"It really looks rather serious," he said.
Sir Robert Perry, whose fat cob was panting with unusual exertions, nodded assent.