“Then you must have missed them, and they are there now.”
“We searched the place well,” said another man; and one by one, as the party closed up, they told the same tale.
“Father was deceived,” thought Fred; and the more readily, that it was not the first example by many of pieces of false news brought in by spies.
“Here!” he cried aloud, “we’ll all ride through again. Ah! look yonder. Forward! Gallop!” he shouted; and, setting spurs to his horse, he dashed off, followed by his men, for there, a quarter of a mile to the left, was a little party of six horsemen stealing along a narrow coombe, after evading their pursuers in some way.
They were well in view as Fred emerged from the wooded land, and were evidently spurring hard to escape, and for the next quarter of an hour the chances seemed even, for the distance was maintained, and each party kept well together; but after that the pace began to tell, and horse and man tailed off till both parties seemed to be straggling over the ground, the better-mounted to the front, the worse hanging behind.
It was soon evident that the pursuers’ horses were far fresher than those of the Royalists; and after shouting to his men to come on, Fred raced forward, with Samson close behind, and after a headlong gallop of about ten minutes, the young leader had overtaken the hindmost horseman, who was standing in his stirrups, his morion close down over his eyes, his back up, and apparently blind to everything that was before him as well as behind.
“Have him, Samson, lad,” cried Fred, as he spurred on past this fugitive to try and overtake the leader, a young-looking man in showy cavalier hat and feathers, who kept on turning in his saddle and encouraging his men to fresh exertions.
The next minute, as they thundered along, Samson rode straight at the man with the morion over his eyes, but before he could reach him the fugitive’s horse made a poor attempt to clear a bush in his way, stumbled, fell headlong, and shot his rider half a dozen yards in front.
“Prisoners; and don’t hurt them,” shouted Fred, waving his sword, and his men gave an answering yell. So did the pursued, for no sooner did the young leader discover that one of his men was down than he checked his horse, held up his sword for the others to rally round him, and turned at once on the party headed by Fred.
It was a gallant attempt, but useless. Their horses were spent, and as they were checked before they could make any effective stand, Fred’s party literally sprung at them. There was a sharp shock; the exchange of a few blows, and it was all over, the little party being literally ridden down, their leader going over, horse and all, at Fred’s charge.