“Splendid! my lads,” cried Roy, who leaned over the battlements, waving his hand to the panting and nearly exhausted men from the mill, who came at a steady trot now across the bridge, cheered loudly by all who could see them.
Roy’s next thought was to go and tell Lady Royland all about the incident; but he felt that he must live up to his position, and be busy there in sight of his men; so, after watching the enemy’s horse till quite out of sight, he bade Ben keep a sharp lookout, and descended to hear the report of the party who had just come in.
He found them in the guard-room, scarlet with exertion, and still panting from their long race, but evidently in high glee, Sam Donny, their spokesman, the young man who was put first to the front when they came to him, being full of their adventures,—how the troopers had passed the mill three times that morning, and stopped twice to demand corn for their steeds and water, their leader watching the miller’s men curiously as if suspicious of them.
“But they went off at last, sir. Let’s see: they come agen, though, twice after we’d heard the guns, and that kep’ us back. Last of all, I says to t’others, ‘Now for it, lads, or young Captin Roy’ll be thinking we’re feared to come.’ They says, ‘That’s so,’ and off we starts; but we hadn’t gone far ’fore we finds they’re on the road, and we had to run back and make for Water Lane. Hadn’t gone far ’long Water Lane, when we finds a couple of ’em there. Back we goes again, and creeps along aside one of the fields, and there they was again, and dozens of ’em on the watch, as if some one had told ’em we was likely to come over here. Then we all goes back to the mill and talks it over, and some on us says as we’d better stop till night; but I says, ‘Nay! They’ll think we’re all cowards, and get shooting at us if we comes in the dark,’ and at last we said we’d go two miles round by the common. And so we did, sir, crawling on our stummicks in and out among the furze bushes, and every now and then seeing the sun shine on one of their caps as they rode here and there.
“Last of all, sir, they seemed to have gone away, and I lifts up my head and looks about. ‘All clear, mates!’ I says, and up we gets, keeping as far off as we could, so as to work round. ‘We’ve done ’em this time,’ I says, as we went on, and we was coming along splendid, till Bob Herries happens to look back, and, ‘Run, lads,’ he says; ‘here they come arter us!’ I was for hiding, sir, but there was no chance, so we all run our best, with the castle here seeming a long way off; but we got nigher and nigher, and so did they; and they’d ha’ cut us off if it hadn’t been for that gun—though we all thought the next shot might hit us.”
“You did bravely, my lads,” cried Roy. “But tell me, what about the men from the farm?”
“What! aren’t they here, sir?” said the man.
“No; we’ve seen nothing of them.”
“Well, I am glad, then, that we aren’t the last,” said the man, with a grin of satisfaction; but his face was serious directly. “I don’t quite mean that, sir. I mean I’m sorry they’re not here. Then some of those fellows must have took them. But what I want to know is, how could they tell we was a-coming to the castle?”
“They must have noticed that you all had a military bearing, my lad. You are all very different to what you were when you came to join.”