"Aye, Clifford, I know it. Say no more on this matter."
Inwardly wondering, I obeyed. Whatever the package contained, I now felt certain that 'twas the same stuff as Jeremy Miles had attempted to swallow.
"Now, look you, Captain Miles," said my father, as we prepared to return homewards, "neither Lymington nor Pitt's Deep offers an asylum for you. To go to either place is to set your head in a trap. I have made up my mind that you must tarry with us at Brockenhurst till this storm has blown over."
"Nay, 'tis unfair to saddle you with the presence of a proclaimed rebel," objected Captain Jeremy stoutly. "The service I rendered your children does not warrant such a generous payment. I'll accept your hospitality for this night, and at sunrise to-morrow I'll make my way into Sussex. I know of an old shipmate at Shoreham who'll gladly set me across to France."
"You'll never get out of Hampshire, my friend," interrupted my father; "at least, not yet awhile. Perchance the tide of monarchy will change again, though, mark you, I'd far rather have James Stuart as my lawful sovereign than James Walters. No, no, I say; further flight is out of the question. At Brockenhurst you will stay till I give you leave to go farther afield."
'Twas no light matter to smuggle the fugitive into our home; but we did it, and for the next week or more Captain Miles remained within doors, my father having pointed out to him the secret panel in case of an emergency. This surprised me not a little, for he was usually very reticent about this matter. True, I had been told of the existence of the hiding-place, but even Constance was kept in ignorance of it. The person who contrived the sliding panel must have done his work well, for no one unacquainted with its mechanism could cause it to move. But I've said enough concerning this matter, for although 'tis well known that our home does possess such a contrivance, its position and the method of working it still remain a secret locked in the breast of a trusted few, and 'twould not be doing my duty towards the Hammonds that are to come were I to say more.
Yet there was no reason for alarm. Though troops of horse often passed through Brockenhurst on their way to and from Lymington, none stopped to search for rebels. Neither did the disappearance of two of Cornbury's Dragoons cause any trouble, for we learnt that they were set down as deserters, while, as good fortune would have it, a report came in that two men answering their description had been seen riding northwards out of Salisbury.
One morning I was seated with Captain Jeremy in the little room where he was wont to spend most of his time. Often I would go thither to be regaled with stories of his voyage to the Indies and his adventures in foreign parts, till my young blood coursed madly through my veins; and so strange were some of the tales he told that I'm afraid his share of imagination must have been a double one.
In the midst of his narrative on this particular day, my father entered, having just returned from Lymington Town.
"I have bad news for you," he announced.