"Yes. Is there anything else?"
"Is it possible to run up a flag on the belfry-tower?"
"If you say it is to be done, it shall be done."
"I do not want the flag hoisted at present; but if you will prepare to do so——'
"Very well," interrupted the girl.
Harry thanked her with a look, and ran downstairs three steps at a time. He called to one of the dragoons to accompany him, and hastened again to the gate, meeting on the way several men whom, in obedience to his instructions, Sherebiah had sent up from the road.
"Sherry," he said, "ask this fellow if a cavalry troop on the march is preceded by an advance guard. He won't understand my Dutch."
"I can tell 'ee that," said Sherebiah instantly. "They do so. A patrol goos ahead, mebbe a quarter of a mile."
"Oh! Now, mark my plan. Mademoiselle de Vaudrey is making some of the Dutchmen look like soldiers; we've no muskets for them, but at a distance I hope sticks may serve as well. I am going to post these make-believe soldiers around the wall of the estate among the trees; it will look as if the orchard and woods are manned. They will remain concealed until a flag appears on the tower; then their sudden appearance will, I trust, make an impression."
"Ay, sir, 'tis famous. But if the patrol gets much past the house, 'twill be labour lost, for they will be near enough to see 'tis all my eye."