They talked together while the landlady prepared some bacon and eggs for them. A light carriage drawn by a pair of swift gray horses drew up at the inn door; a man and a well grown boy leaped out; and at sight of them Ethan Carlyle shrank back out of sight.
“What is it?” asked Dale in astonishment as the newcomers entered the inn.
But Ethan did not reply; his eyes were following the forms of Stephen Wheelock and the spy, Danvers, as they disappeared through the doorway.
CHAPTER XXI
THE EXPLOIT OF MASTER DIRK HATFIELD
Ethan recovered himself in a very few moments; and then he told Dale the story of the dispatch and the part which Danvers had played in its disappearance.
“And so it has fallen into British hands at last,” said Dale, regretfully. “Too bad; for you and Captain Jones did all you could to save it, I can see that.”
Just then the landlady came out and announced that their supper was ready. In a few moments they were seated with the smoking bacon and eggs before them, also some golden butter and a white loaf. There was a broad window looking out upon a sort of porch at the side of the inn, and just outside this window Danvers and young Wheelock sat engaged in an earnest conversation.
“The bacon is good,” said Dale with great satisfaction, “and the eggs are perfect. It’s a dish for a king after the food of the prison.”
Hoof-beats sounded upon the road. Looking through the window they saw a man, mounted upon a powerful black horse, draw up and dismount. He wore long boots, a full skirted coat and a cocked hat with a star of silver metal at one side. In his belt were a pair of long heavy pistols; and as he gave his horse to a groom he lilted a rollicking air. The landlady, who had just brought in a fresh dish of eggs, at sight of him dropped it upon the floor, at the same time uttering an exclamation of alarm.
“Again,” she cried, in apparent terror, “he’ll have the magistrates upon me next, the villain!”