Prince Charles was in command of the army in the west, and he longed to join him and try once more the fortunes of battle.  The guard set round the building was close and vigilant, and the chances of escape appeared small.  Still, Harry thought that if he could escape from an upper window on a dark night he could surely make his way through the line of sentries.  He had observed on moonlight nights the exact position which each of these occupied.  The intervals were short between them; but it would be quite possible on a dark night for a person to pass noiselessly without being perceived.  The watch would have been even more strict than it was, had not the Puritans regarded the struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful as to their prisoners than they would otherwise have been.  Harry prepared for escape by tearing up the blankets of his bed and knotting them into ropes.  A portion he wrapped round his shoes, so as to walk noiselessly, and taking advantage of a dark, moonless night, when the fog hung thick upon the low land round Reading, he opened his window, threw out his rope, and slipped down to the ground.

So dark was the fog that it was difficult for him to see two paces in advance, and he soon found that the careful observations which he had taken of the place of the sentries would be altogether useless.  Still, in the darkness and thickness of the night, he thought that the chance of detection was small.  Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, he could hear the constant challenges of the sentries round him.  These, excited by the unusual darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant.  Harry approached until he was within a few yards of the line, and the voices of the men as they challenged enabled him to ascertain exactly the position of those on the right and left of him.  Passing between these, he could see neither, although they were but a few paces on either hand, and he would have got off unobserved had he not suddenly fallen into a deep stream running across his way, and which in the darkness he did not see until he fell into it.  At the sound there was an instant challenge, and then a piece was discharged.  Harry struggled across the stream, and clambered out on the opposite side.  As he did so a number of muskets were fired in his direction by the men who came rushing up to the point of alarm.  One ball struck him in the shoulder.  The rest whizzed harmlessly by, and at the top of his speed he ran forward.

He was now safe from pursuit, for in the darkness of the night it would have been absolutely impossible to follow him.  In a few minutes he ceased running, for when all became quiet behind him, he could no longer tell in what direction he was advancing.  So long as he could hear the shouts of the sentries he continued his way, and then, all guidance being lost, he lay down under a hedge and waited for morning.  It was still thick and foggy; but wandering aimlessly about for some time, he succeeded at last in striking