Roe’s cool demeanor inspired them with confidence. Though it was now so dark, owing to storm-clouds having banked up from the west, that they had to grope their path through the undergrowth, they obeyed his directions. All three were seated astride a ten-foot wall without much delay.
That they had not acted an instant too soon was evident from the fact that already armed men carrying torches were spreading fan-wise across Draper’s Garden from the Caves’s house, and they heard a loud voice bellowing from the private doorway:—
“I call on all liege men and true to secure the arrest of two malefactors who have but now escaped from this dwelling.”
Mowbray found himself wondering why the hue and cry had been raised so promptly. Some one must have indicated the exact place where he and Roger had disappeared. But Roe dropped from the wall on the other side and whispered up to them:—
“Follow! It is soft earth.”
“Hold by the wall,” he murmured when they stood by his side. “It leads to a wicket.”
Walking in Indian file they quickly passed into a narrow court. Thence, threading many a dark alley and tortuous by-street, stopping always at main thoroughfares until their guide signaled that the way was clear, they crossed the city towards the river. Roe knew London better than the watch. Seemingly, he could find the track blindfold, and Walter guessed that the cavalier often used this device in order to encounter Anna Cave unseen by others. It was passing strange that Nellie should be an inmate of a house where her brother was so unwelcome. However, this was no hour to push inquiries. He was now utterly lost as to locality, and he awaited, with some curiosity, the outcome of this nocturnal wandering through the most ancient part of London.
At last, the close air of the alleys gave place to a fresher draft, and his quick ear caught the plash of water.
“Guard your steps here,” said Roe. “The stairs are not of the best, but they will bear your weight if you proceed with caution.”
He appeared to vanish through a trap-door in a small jetty. Down in the impenetrable darkness they heard him say:—