“Truth, my mistress,” he replied; “but God is in Heaven, and hope is safest there.”
It was nearly eleven o’clock in the morning when the travellers set out from the Nun’s Head. Roger Hall stood in the doorway, looking after them, until the last glimpse could no longer be perceived. Then, with a sigh, he turned to Tom Hartley, who stood beside him.
“Come, Tom!” he said, “let us, thou and I, go home and do God’s will.”
“Ay, master, and let God do His will with us,” was the cheery answer.
Then the two men and the donkey set out for Cranbrook.
Chapter Twenty Three.
Cat and mouse.
It was Mr Roberts’s custom to go down to the cloth-works every Tuesday—saints’ days excepted—and in pursuance of this habit he made his appearance in the counting-house on the morning after the departure of the two ladies. Roger Hall was at his post as usual, waited on his master, gave in his accounts, and received his orders. When the other business was over, Roger said, in the same tone and manner as before—