"Thou shalt live to rue this bitterly," he repeated, but before he could say anything further his mouth was filled with grass, and in spite of his attempts to speak he could no longer succeed in making himself heard.
How far he was being carried he knew not, nor yet did he know the way; and beyond making a few desultory attempts to disengage his nether limbs from the vice-like grasp in which they were enclosed, the baron made no further attempts to free himself.
It was quite dark before they stopped, and when his bandages were taken off he had only sufficient time to discover that they had halted at the mouth of a cave before his captors seized hold of his person and unceremoniously pushed him in, sending, after a brief consultation, one of their number after him to see that he made no effort to escape.
"Where is Nathan Grene?" inquired the outraged nobleman, as soon as he found himself at liberty; "I want to see him."
"Happen you do!" replied his keeper, who was none other than the ostler; "then, maybe, you will find him at London. You were near enough to him in the stable loft; maybe he is out of the stocks again now."
"Don't talk with him," commanded an imperious voice from the exterior, "or he will be taking you unawares."
The order was literally complied with, and to all his queries thenceforward the baron could gain no reply. At length he gave up the attempt, and watched in sullen silence his captors kindle a fire just within the cavern mouth.
He meditated a dash out, but the venture seemed to promise little hope, and seeing, after a time, that the man had fallen asleep, he proceeded to explore his prison.
It was a long cave, and there were many fissures and passages branching out on either side, but he found to his intense disgust that instead of leading out into the open they all terminated after a few yards in a solid wall of rock.
Nothing daunted by his successive disappointments, the lord of Haddon carefully wound his way round the circuitous cavern path. He found it difficult work, however, to walk in darkness in an unknown way, and he made little progress until, suddenly remembering that the ostler had charge of the tinder and flint which his associates had thrown in after kindling their fire, he stole back as quickly as he could to fetch it.