She ran to the staircase, and Samson tramped off to the old stable, thrust his hand in the thatch over the door, where, to use his expression, “the key always laid,” and a neigh of recognition greeted him as soon as he spoke.
In five minutes he was leading the pony round to the gate, where he was in time to find a huge black jack of cider being passed round with horns to the men, one of the maids having hastily dressed and come down.
Directly after, in her dark riding-habit and hat, Mistress Forrester was at the door, was helped into the saddle by her son, and the little cavalcade was on its way back through the dark lanes, and over the stretch of moor.
Chapter Twenty Seven.
How Scarlett Visited his Mother.
“Oh, mother darling, how shocking it all seems!” said Lil, after a long burst of weeping, as she knelt by her mother in the darkness of their own chamber that dreary night.
“Yes, yes, my child; but we must be patient and wait.”
“But it seems so terrible. These men here—our dear old home full of soldiers, and poor father and Scar—”