Did some kind Spirit hear her prayer?
Three days later, toward the close of afternoon Sally went toward the woodsy place and the pine-trees she had long loved.
She went to the other side of the great oak and sat down on the moss, her back against the tree. She could not easily be seen from the narrow path as she thus sat cosily curled.
"They say"—she caught her breath—"that on the morrow morn, there goeth forth with Reginald Bromfeld, my Fairy Prince, Leon Sutcliff, Edward Byrd, Hugh Spottswood, and others to join the forces at Boston, so sure are all the people that great strife is at hand in that quarter. And very swiftly are they to press forward, hoping to be in time for it.
"I must get a look at my Fairy Prince in the morning. He will not hear me bid him 'Godspeed,' but Godspeed I shall bid him with all my heart."
She stood up, intending to walk on, but at a little turn in the thicket road farther on, she saw three horsemen slowly advancing. They wore light riding-coats, which had concealed the scarlet coats of the king's men, but these outer garments were now thrown open, showing clearly the colors beneath them. Sally at once sat down again, huddling herself close at the back of the oak, hoping not to be seen as they rode by in single file.
On coming near, the first man turned in his saddle to answer a remark of one of his fellows.
"I will hold," he exclaimed, softly, "that I liked it not his keeping so still. It would have served me better had he kicked or shown temper as I expected."
"What good would that have done?" asked the other, stopping his horse a moment, that seemed well spent.
"No good," answered the first man; "but it was a dirty piece of work at best. I would that Sir Percival could have found another way of keeping back his young son. Strange it were to spirit away the lad in that style. He really thought he was showing us the way, not seeing the colors we wore until too late."