“Should evil befall your father, Charlie, which I earnestly hope will not be the case, I shall regard you as my son, and shall do the same for you as for Harry.

“And now, I will to rest, for I have scarce slept the last two nights, and we must be in the saddle long before daybreak.”

The little bedroom, that Charlie had used the two previous nights, was given up to Mr. Jervoise; while Harry and Charlie slept on some sheep skins, in front of the kitchen fire.  Two hours before daybreak they mounted and, guided by the farmer, rode to a shepherd’s hut far up among the hills.  Late in the afternoon, a boy came up from the farm, with the news that the place had been searched by a party of troopers.  They had ridden away without discovering that the fugitives had been at the farm, but four of the party had been left, in case Mr. Jervoise should come there.  The farmer, therefore, warned them against coming back that way, as had been intended, naming another place where he would meet them.

As soon as the sun was setting they mounted and, accompanied by the shepherd on a rough pony, started for Lancaster.  After riding for three hours, they stopped at a lonely farm house, at which Mr. Jervoise and his friends had held their meeting on the previous day.  Here they changed their clothes for others that had been sent for their use from Lancaster.  Mr. Jervoise was attired as a small trader, and the lads in garb suitable to boys in the same rank of life.  They still, however, retained their swords, and the pistols in their holsters.

Three miles farther they met their host, as arranged, at some crossroads, and rode on until within three miles of Lancaster.  They then dismounted, placed their pistols in their belts, and handed their horses to the two men, who would take them back to the hut in the hills, where they would remain until required.

It was two o’clock in the morning when they entered Lancaster and, going up to a small house, standing in a garden in the outskirts of the town, Mr. Jervoise gave three low knocks in quick succession.  The door was opened almost immediately.  No light was shown, and they entered in the dark, but as soon as the door was closed behind them, a woman came out with a candle from an inner room.

“I am glad to see you safe, Mr. Jervoise,” a man said.  “My wife and I were beginning to be anxious, fearing that you might have fallen into the hands of your enemies.”

“No, all has gone well, Herries; but it is a long ride from the hills here, and we walked the last three miles, as we wanted to get the horses back again before daylight.  We are deeply grateful to you for giving us shelter.”

“I would be ready to do more than that,” the man said, “for the sake of the good cause.  My wife’s father and mine both fell at Naseby, and we are as loyal to the Stuarts as they were.  You are heartily welcome, sir, and, as we keep no servant, there will be none to gossip.  You can either remain in the house, in which case none will know of your presence here; or, if you wish to go abroad in the town, I will accompany you, and will introduce you to any acquaintance I may meet as a cousin of my wife who, with his two sons, has come over from Preston to pay us a visit.  I don’t think that anyone would know you, in that attire.”