“They’re upon me this time; they can’t miss me, for the smoke is rising. I ventured it, and lit my fire, though I knew they had been seeking me. And now they are here.”
She stood erect in her little hut, her hands clasped upon her bosom, the dark hood fallen from her grey hair.
“To the horse-pond with the hell-cat, to the horse-pond! Drown her! drown her! Out upon her for her sorcery! Sink or swim—sink or swim!”
The boughs cracked and rustled as the crowd pushed on, surrounding her hiding-place, and the wood was filled with cries. Suddenly, with a crash the little dwelling was shattered round her, and in an instant she was seized by rude hands. For a moment the children saw her borne high among the crowd, dragged, wrenched, torn, hustled, from one grasp to another, till they could no longer bear the sight.
“O Martin!” cried Faith, as the crowd that had at first swept them with it, passed beyond them and left them by themselves. “How can we save her?”
They stood staring at one another, their eyes wide with the anguish of their hearts.
“They mustn’t kill her, we must save her. Quick, to the house of Master Coverdale.”
No sooner said than done. They started running swiftly through the forest. The dry twigs snapped beneath them as they ran. They knew of Granny’s danger, they also knew of the one man to whom they could go for help. If only they might not be too late—that was the fear that winged their footsteps.
Through the greener open spaces they went, now threading their way through the more closely growing trees, now creeping through the undergrowth and brushwood. Bending back the tough boughs that laced themselves before them, and skirting the impenetrable brakes. Sometimes the roots of ribbed oak trees would catch their steps, or the brambles take their garments, but they did not stop to disentangle, or to rub their bruises. On they ran, forcing their way impetuously, where in a cooler moment they might have hesitated to pass.
And at last they reached the open, and saw the gables of the Manor-house, where dwelt the man they sought.