The moment the horsemen had gone by, Oswald and Roger hastily dressed
again. It was three or four minutes before the girls joined them.
"We have been a long time, Oswald, but our fingers are so cold that we
could not tie the strings."
"You will soon be warm. Climbing the hill will set your blood in
motion."
There was no hurry now. They were safe until the morning.
"We will make up the hill until you are thoroughly warm, and then we
will discuss matters."
Before they were very far up the ascent, both girls declared that they
were comfortably warm again.
"Well, Roger, what do you think our best course will be? The Bairds
have, of course, sent horsemen along the other road. They will have
heard, from the priest, that we have but a few minutes' start; and will
know that we cannot have gone far. The party who passed us will
doubtless stop at Parton, the other at the next village higher up; and
they will be sure that either we concealed ourselves as they passed, or
have taken to the hills on one side or other of the valley. They will
naturally suppose that it is this side, as it would be madness for us
to plunge farther into the country to the west; and you may be sure
there will be scores of men out on these hills, tomorrow, searching for
us; and some of them may ride nearly to Hiniltie, to cut us off there
in case we escape the searchers on the hills.
"I think that the only plan will be to hide up for a couple of days, or
so; then to make our way down again to where the horses are, and then
make a dash through Parton."
"That would certainly be far the best way," Roger said; "but how are we
to manage for food for the ladies?"
"We will go on until we get to the top of the hill, Roger, and then
find a sheltered spot, where they can stop. It is of no use trying to
go on much farther, for the night is cloudy, and there are no stars to
be seen, and we should lose our way directly, for there is no wind that
would serve as a guide as to which way we were travelling. When we find
a good shelter, we must stop with them; and I will make my way down to
the place where the horses are, and warn the men as to what has
happened, and tell them to lie quiet till I come again. I will bring
back whatever food they may have with them, a big jug of water, and the
four horse cloths."
"I will go, master."
"I would rather go myself, Roger. I am accustomed to traverse the moors
at night, and am sure that I can find this place again, without
difficulty."
On nearing the top of the hill, they came upon a number of rough
stones.
"We cannot do better than stop here," Oswald said. "It will be bare on
the top of the hill. Now, Roger, help me to pile a few of these stones
together, so as to make a sort of shelter."
They set to work at once, Roger's strength enabling him to lift stones
that ordinary men could scarcely have moved. In a quarter of an hour a
little inclosure, six feet long by four wide and three high, had been
constructed. An armful of dry heather was then pulled up, and laid on
the ground.
"There, girls, I think you will be able to manage to keep yourselves
warm, by lying close together."
"What are you going to do, Oswald?"
"We shall be all right; and we can, if we like, make another shelter;
and, if we feel cold, can walk about to warm ourselves. Now, Roger, get
half a dozen sticks and lay across the top."
While Roger was away getting the sticks, Oswald helped the girls over
the wall, for no entrance had been left.
"Now, Janet, give me those two wet smocks; I see that you have brought
them with you."
"What do you want them for, Oswald?"
"I want them for the roof, Janet. It is beginning to freeze hard, and
it is of no use having walls, if you have not a roof."
"Won't you take my cloak, instead?"
"Certainly not, Janet, you will want your cloak for a covering. Don't
be silly, but hand them over."
By this time, Roger had returned with the sticks. They were laid across
the top, and the girls' smocks spread over them.
"Now, go to sleep," Oswald said; "we must be on foot, an hour before
dawn."
Oswald then started down the hill for Parton. When he got within a mile
of the town, he could see lights moving about on the road; and guessed
that the Bairds had got torches, and were making sure that the
fugitives had not hidden themselves anywhere close to the road; for
they must have felt certain that they could not have reached the town,
before being overtaken. When the lights had gone along the road, he
descended to the river, took off his doublet and shirt, as before, and
swam over; crossed the road, and was not long in finding the trees that
marked the spot where he was to turn off to the farmhouse.
He made his way to the stable, raised the latch, and entered. A lamp
was burning, and the two men sitting and talking together. They leapt
up, with an exclamation of pleasure, as Oswald entered.
"We were afraid that something might have gone wrong; for, as I was
waiting for you in the road, I heard a body of horsemen coming along,
and hid behind the trees. As they went by, one of them said, 'We must
have passed them long ago, if they came by this road. They had not more
than a quarter of an hour's start.'
"I heard no more, but it suggested that, maybe, you had managed to
escape with the ladies, and that the Bairds were in pursuit of you."
"That was exactly the case. We have got them out of the hold, and
methought that we should have got two hours' start, at least, in which
case they would not have overtaken us before we had crossed the Liddel,
at the ford, six miles above the junction of the Esk with it, and were
well on our road towards Longtown; but by some accident, I know not
what, the matter was discovered before we have been gone ten minutes.
As it was certain that they would overtake us, long before we got to
Parton, we swam the Esk, and I have left the ladies on the hill over
there, in charge of Roger, while I came here. We know that, by morning,
the countryside will be up and searching the hills; and that, with the
two lasses, it would be hopeless for us to try and make our way on to
Hiniltie.
"Therefore, we decided to hide up for two or three days, then to make
our way down here at night, mount, and ride through. By that time the
search down in the valley here will have slackened, and we shall get
through Parton all right, and our only danger will be at the ford
across the Liddel; where, possibly, the Bairds may set a guard, lest we
find our way down there. I had intended that we should take the four
horses, and that you should make your way to Hiniltie across the hills;
but as there will now be no great occasion for speed, one of you had
best ride with us, while the other bears the news to Hiniltie that we
have carried off the girls.
"You had better settle between yourselves which shall go with us. You
may take it that there is about equal danger, both ways, for the one
that goes to Hiniltie must travel cautiously, as it will be a week
before the Bairds give up the search among the hills."
"We had best decide by lot."
Oswald picked up a piece of straw, and broke off two fragments, one an
inch longer than the other; and, closing his hand on them, he held the
two ends out.
"Do you draw," he said, holding it out to Fergus. "The longest straw
goes to Hiniltie, and shortest with us."
The man drew.
"I have the longest," he said, "and perhaps it were best that it should
be so, for I know the way thoroughly, having often been over the hills
in search of missing cattle."
"You will both remain here, till we come. Now, what food have you?"
"We bought a supply in Parton, yesterday evening, and have enough for a
week; for we thought that some might be needed by the whole party, on
our way; and moreover, we care not to go down often to the town, as we
might attract attention."
"That is good. Keep enough for tomorrow, for yourselves; I will take
the rest."
"There is no need for that. We can get what we want from the house and,
tomorrow evening, one of us will go down into Parton again."
"Or better still," Oswald said, "give the money to the hind here. I
suppose there is one."
"Yes; he sleeps in the house."
"Give him money, then, and a present for himself, and get him to fetch
it for you. Some of the Bairds may remain there, and you may be sure
that every stranger will be strictly questioned. I want also the four
horse cloths, which please make into a bundle. Is your water skin
full?"
"We filled it this afternoon, thinking it possible that we might make a
hasty start tonight."
"How much does it hold?"
"About two gallons."
"It would have been better had it been four. However, we must manage
with it. Now, do you know of any ford across the river? for I certainly
could not swim across, with this load."
"There is one half a mile farther up. We were asking the hind about it,
the other day, thinking that it might be useful should we have to fly
suddenly. I will go down with you; and indeed, I shall be glad to go
the whole way with you, for the provisions and those blankets and the
skin will be no light weight; and, as I am going to Hiniltie, it will
cheer Armstrong if I could tell him that I saw his daughters."
"It would be a good plan, Fergus, though in truth the weight would be
no great burden; but certainly, Armstrong would be pleased to know that
you had seen his daughters."
A few minutes later they set out, forded the river breast high,
carrying the loads on their heads; and then, climbing the hill, made
their way to the shelter, whose exact position Oswald had marked, on
starting, by a huge boulder that stood on the crest of the hill, some
fifty feet above it.
Roger was on the lookout. Seeing two figures approaching, when he
expected but one, he grasped his staff firmly.
"Who comes there?" he asked.
"It is I, Roger. I have brought one of the men with me, to help carry
the things. He is going to Hiniltie, and thought that Armstrong would
be pleased to know he had seen his daughters. I have got plenty of
food, and a skin of water."
"That is capital," Roger said cheerfully. "I was fearing that, having
so many things to think of, you might forget water."
Oswald went to the shelter.
"Are you awake, Janet?"
"Yes," she replied. "I have been anxious, while you were away."
"Are you cold?"
"I am not very warm," she answered; "but do not trouble about it, we
shall do very well."
"I have two blankets here," he said, as he removed the covering. "One
of these I will put over you both, and tuck it well in, each side, to
keep out the wind that comes in between the stones. Then I will lay
your smocks over that. I wrung them well, before putting them on the
sticks; and although I cannot say they are dry, yet they are not damp
enough to matter, and will help keep you warm. The other blanket I will
put over the sticks."
"Thank you indeed, Oswald," the girl said, gratefully. "That feels very
much more comfortable."
"Now, Roger, there is a blanket for you, and one for me, to wrap round
us, plaid fashion."
"I do not need one, master. In faith, I have more respect for this gown
than I ever had before--it is wondrously warm and, with the hood over
my head, I want nothing more."
"That is all very well, Roger. If you don't need it for your shoulders,
you need it for your legs; for being without hose, and with nought but
those sandals, you must be freezing. We will walk up and down here, for
a bit, and do you wrap it round your legs, like a Highlander's
petticoat. When we have tired ourselves, we will lie down and try to
get a sleep, for an hour or two."
As they walked, they talked over their plans; and Oswald decided that,
before daybreak, he would set out on the search for a place of
concealment.
"I will leave my helmet and breast and back piece behind me," he said,
"and will take your staff. Then, if I am caught sight of by any party
in the distance, I shall look like a shepherd; while, had I on my iron
harness, they would at once suspect me of being of the party, even
though I were alone. As for you, your monk's robe would be detected,
miles off."
"I could leave it behind me," Roger said.
"You have not much on underneath, Roger; and your bareness, in such
weather as this, would be as noticeable as your gown. Mind, before it
gets light, get the ladies up, and carry our bag of victuals and the
water skin over the crest. You may be sure that, as soon as it is
light, there will be many sharp eyes watching the hillside, all along
here."
The man who had come up with them had already wrapped himself in the
blanket he had brought with him, had crawled in among the bushes, and
was, as they could hear by his heavy breathing, already sound asleep.
After a time Oswald said that, as they had nothing more to settle, he
would try and get a few hours' rest. There was not the slightest fear
of surprise, and Roger and he were not long before they were both sound
asleep. Oswald woke two or three times and, at first sign of dawn,
shook Roger.
"You had better wake the ladies, in a few minutes, Roger, and get them
over the crest. Let their man, as soon as he has seen them, start at
once, keeping along behind the ridge, and warn him not to go down into
the valley until he is fully a mile beyond Parton. Tell him to look
carefully along the road, before he begins to descend, and to see that
it is clear. Even then, let him hide as much as may be, behind
brushwood and rock, until he gets down. When he has swum the river, let
him make a wide detour round Parton, so as to come down to the stables
without being noticed.
"I shall not be very long away. 'Tis scarce likely, among these hills,
that I shall find any place that we can crawl into; and I think we
shall have to content ourselves with lying down among the heather. I
must find a spot where no one, on any hill above, can look down on us.
We shall be quite safe from any party moving along on the same level as
ourselves."
Oswald had gone but a little distance, when he determined that no
better place could be found than the plateau itself. This extended, for
two or three hundred yards from the edge, looking down into the valley.
Beyond, the ground sloped sharply down again into a deep hollow; and
beyond, it was broken into rounded swells, rising one above another. A
party lying among the heather, where he was standing, could not be seen
by watchers from any other point. Moreover, it was most important that
all should be in shelter before it was fairly daylight. He therefore,
as soon as it was light enough to take in the principal features of the
scene, hurried back to his companions.
"We can do no better, girls, than to lie down together, two hundred
yards away. Pick your way through the bushes where they are thinnest,
so as not to disturb them. Please be off at once, and choose a spot
close to where the ground falls away, on the other side. Roger and I
must tumble this shelter down, and scatter the sticks; for if anyone
searching the hillside came along, he would guess that we had slept
here, and there would be a hue and cry at once."
The man had left, sometime before, for the valley; having gone off as
soon as he had spoken to the girls. Oswald and Roger ran down to the
shelter, speedily threw the stones into a heap, and scattered the
sticks; then, after glancing round to see that nothing had been left,
they collected the blankets, provisions, and water skin; and, taking up
these and Oswald's armour, ran in the direction that Oswald had pointed
out to the girls.
The ground was thickly covered with heather, and they had to step
carefully to avoid pressing it down. They reached the edge of the
plateau without seeing the girls and, after looking round for a minute
or two, Oswald called aloud.
He was answered by a merry laugh, and Jessie's head rose above the
heather. They had, indeed, passed within five or six yards of the
girls.
"That is good, indeed," Oswald said, as he lay down beside them. "If I
could not see you, when I was sure that you were quite near, there is
no fear of any searchers lighting upon you.
"The sun has just risen, and a mist still hangs on the top of the
hills," he went on; "and I am convinced that we cannot have been seen,
for men placed on the watch are sure to be high up on the hills, and it
will be some time yet before the sun rises high enough to drive away
the mist."
Although it was freezing sharply, they felt by no means cold as they
lay, wrapped in their blankets, with the heather rising well above
them, and sheltering them from a light breeze that had sprung up at
sunrise. After chatting with the girls for a time, Roger and Oswald
left them and, crawling along on their stomachs, got to the edge of the
descent.
By this time the sun was well above the hills, the mist had cleared
off, and they had an extensive view. From time to time they caught
sight of groups of three or four mounted men moving about, searching
the valleys; while single men, on foot, rambled over the hills.
"They are keeping up an active search, Roger. 'Tis well that we went no
farther. They will scarce suspect us of lying close to the valley we
left. I expect the main body has gone much farther. I have no doubt the
Bairds have a couple of hundred men and boys out. They would call out
every man and boy from their holdings, and most likely get a couple of
score of men from their village, and perhaps twice as many from Parton.
No doubt they will think that, if we came in this direction, we should,
last night, have found our way to one of the tracks across the hills,
and it is near these that their search will be the keenest.
Fortunately, they cannot know that I am here, nor guess that it is to
Yardhope that we intend to take them, and not to Hiniltie. Still, they
may expect that we shall try to cross the border, and I fancy we shall
scarcely get through without a fight."
"All the better," Roger grumbled. "My fingers tingle to bring down this
staff on the head of some of the Bairds, after all the trouble they
have given us."
They remained watching until it became dusk, except that, twice during
the day, they crawled back and partook of a meal with the girls. The
last time they joined them, Oswald said:
"Now, in half an hour it will be quite dark, and then we can safely get
up and walk about for a bit. I am sure you must feel stiff, lying still
so long."
"I have never kept quiet for so long a time, since I can remember,"
Jessie said, laughing.
"That shows that you have had no illnesses, Jessie. However, I shall be
glad to get up and stretch my limbs, myself. Half an hour will be
enough, and then we will have a good, long night. Another day of it,
and I think it will be safe to start."
The next afternoon they saw a number of parties searching the hills, in
all directions.
"I expect they have become convinced that we have not tried to get
straight through, Roger, and are hunting back for us. It is as well
that it will be dark in another half hour, and they will then have to
give up their search, for the night. If there were a couple of hours
more light, I should feel very uneasy."
"So should I, master. You and I would have little chance of mercy, if
we fell into their hands. It might well be that, in their anger, they
might slay the ladies, also."
"That would be like enough, Roger. However, there can be no chance of
their coming here, before it is dark."
At nine o'clock they started, and made their way down, with some
difficulty and many slips and falls, into the valley. Then they kept
along near the river, till Oswald was sure they were close to the ford.
He bade them halt here, and went forward alone. Before he had gone
fifty yards, he nearly stumbled against a man.
"Is it you, John?"
"Yes, it is I."
"Is all well?"
"It is all well, but I had a fright, yesterday morning. The Bairds
searched every cottage and hut over the hills, on this side, and they
say their men rode almost as far as Galloway; but they gave up the
search before they got here, feeling assured that they must have passed
you, very soon after you left the hold, and you could never have got as
far down as this."
"'Tis well they did not search, indeed," Oswald said. "Your story about
the horses might do well enough, for those who have no interest in the
matter, but it would never have done for the Bairds. All has been quiet
today?"
"They seem to have given up searching on this side. I hear that they
feel sure, now, the ladies have made for Hiniltie; and they have had
great forces out among the hills, and feel confident that they must
catch them soon."
"Have you got the horses saddled?"
"They are saddled, and brought down close to the road. Fergus is with
them."
"Then bring them across, at once. The sooner we are off now, the
better. Are there any of the Bairds' men in the town?"
"There are a few of them, but as no one has any idea that you are like
to pass through there, they will not be on the lookout. Besides, all
will have been among the hills, from daybreak this morning; and I
expect, by this time, there is scarce a soul awake in Parton."
Oswald returned to the girls, and they went out together to the ford.
In a couple of minutes the men were seen making their way across,
riding two horses, and leading the others.
"We thank you heartily," Janet said, "for having so risked your lives
for us; for, had you been caught with the four horses, they would at
once have connected you with us, and it would have gone hard with you."
"We have been keeping away from the horses, yesterday and today, just
going to a distance and lying down where, without being seen ourselves,
we could watch anyone who went up to the farm. We could have done no
good, and thought that it was better that we should be able to warn
you, if they had come and taken the horses away."
After crossing the river, Fergus at once started, on foot, for
Hiniltie.
They had already discussed how they should ride, and it had been
settled that, at starting, Janet should ride the fourth horse; and that
Jessie should ride behind the others, by turns. If an attack was
threatened, Jessie was to mount behind her sister, and they were to
take their place between Oswald and Roger, while their own man rode
close behind them.
It was just ten o'clock as they rode through Parton. Not a light was to
be seen. The whole place appeared wrapt in sleep. They went through at
a walk, so that, if any heard them, they would suppose that it was a
belated party of the searchers, and would give the matter no further
thought.
After riding for a short distance, they put the horses into a trot.
Four hours later they halted, at the point where the road down the Esk
valley divided, one going to the ferry a few hundred yards farther on,
while the other turned to the left, and followed the bank of the
Liddel.
John had inquired about the ferry, and learned that the ferryboat no
longer plied, as, since the troubles began, there was so little traffic
that it did not pay the ferryman to remain there. As they had already
decided to cross by the ford, four miles higher up, this did not
matter. As none of them was aware of its exact position, they decided
to wait where they were, until daylight.
Searching about, they found a deserted hut, with a shed adjoining it.
The horses were led into this, and the party then gathered in the hut,
and John struck a light, while Oswald and Roger broke up a fallen gate,
and the fire was soon blazing. Although there was not the slightest
chance of anyone travelling the road, at this hour, they hung one of
the thick blankets across the window, thus keeping out the cold air, as
well as preventing the light from being seen. Then the party lay down,
the men taking it by turns to stand guard outside, being relieved every
two hours.
As soon as day dawned they again mounted. It was about four miles' ride
to the point where the road divided, one branch going towards the
river, some seventy or eighty yards away. Here stood a square building
of some size, used as a refuge by travellers who arrived when the
Liddel was swollen, and the ford impracticable.
When the riders had come within a few yards of this building, two men,
hearing the sound of horses' hoofs, came out. As their eye fell upon
the party they gave a shout, ran out into the road, and drew their
swords.
Roger and Oswald rode at them. Parrying a thrust of one of the men,
Oswald cut him down; while Roger, with a tremendous blow from his
staff, stretched the other man on the road.
"Ride on, girls! We will follow you," Oswald shouted.
Jessie was sitting behind John, and they and Janet dashed forward, and
rode into the water. Oswald and Roger followed, as six men, armed with
spear and sword, ran out from the house. Seeing that they were too
late, the leader shouted to the others: "Fetch out the horses, and
chase them!" and, before the party had gained the opposite bank, their
pursuers dashed into the water.
"Don't press your horses too hardly," Oswald said, as they galloped
along. "They are too close behind us for us to get help from any of the
small villages, but they dare not follow us into Longtown, and we have
barely a ten miles' ride."
They had some two hundred yards' start, and for the first four miles
held their own; then their pursuers began to gain upon them. One of the
horses was carrying double, and Roger and Oswald were both heavier than
any of the moss troopers.
"We shall have a fight for it, Roger."
"That is just what I was thinking, master. Well, there are three of us;
and, as there are only six of them, we ought not to have much trouble.
John will be a match for one. Methinks you and I can each make short
work of a man when they first come up; and with but three of them
against two, it will be mere child's play."
The road was a narrow one, and little used; and, when they came to the
foot of a sharp rise, Oswald called to those ahead to stop.
"Jump down, Jessie, and mount behind Janet, and ride on ahead. We will
soon get rid of these fellows. Be quick!"
The moss troopers were now but seventy or eighty yards behind.
"I shall fight on foot," Roger said, as he leapt off his horse. "I want
both hands, for this staff."
Turning his horse, and bidding John to do the same, Oswald reined back
his animal three or four lengths; and when the Bairds' party were
within twenty yards, touched it with his spur and dashed at them,
meeting them just abreast of Roger. The first man he met thrust at him
with his spear, but Oswald parried with his sword, and with a
back-handed blow smote the man just under the chin, and he fell with a
crash from his horse. At the same moment he heard a blow like that of a
smith's hammer, as Roger's staff fell upon the steel cap of the first
who attacked him.
John was less fortunate, for his opponent's spear struck him in the
throat, and he fell heavily from his saddle.
"Well stricken, Jock!" one of them shouted. "Ride on after the women.
We will settle with these fellows."
But before the moss trooper could obey the order, Oswald, with a touch
of the spur and the bridle, caused his horse to curvet round, and smote
the man so mighty a blow on the shoulder as well-nigh to sever his arm
from his body. As he wheeled his horse again he was nigh unseated, by a
spear thrust that struck him on the breast piece; but, upon recovering,
he struck his opponent, as he passed, so heavy a blow in the face, with
the pommel of his sword, that he sent him senseless to the ground.
The other two men had furiously attacked Roger, but, whirling his staff
round his head, he had kept them both at bay; then the staff descended
between the ears of one of the horses, which fell headlong; and before
the rider could get his foot from the stirrup, the staff struck him
below the steel cap, just in front of the ear, and without a cry he
fell dead beside his horse. At that the last of the moss troopers
turned his horse, and galloped off at full speed.
"We have not taken long over that, master," Roger said, with a grim
smile. "Five men in a minute is not so bad."
"I am afraid John is killed, Roger. See to him."
"Ay, he is sped," Roger replied, as he turned the body over. "The spear
struck him full in the throat. That is what comes of not learning to
use your weapons. What shall we do with him?"
"He was a faithful fellow, Roger, and as there is no need for haste
now, we will give him some sort of burial, and not let him lie here in
the road."
"We have nought to dig a grave with," Roger remarked.
"No, but there are plenty of stones about."
He dismounted, and with Roger's help carried the dead man a short
distance away, laid him down by the side of a great boulder, and then
piled stones around and over him.
"That will do, Roger. 'Tis not like that anyone will disturb those
stones, for years to come. He will rest as well there as if he lay in a
grave. Now, let us look to the others."
The man he had struck across the throat, and the last Roger had hit,
were both dead. Two of the others were but stunned, while the one upon
whose shoulder Roger's blow had fallen was lying insensible, and
evidently was fast bleeding to death.
"We can do naught for him," Oswald said. "Even had we the king's leech
here, we could not save him. Now let us be off."
"Shall we take the horses, master?"
"No, they will be but an encumbrance; and now that poor fellow has
gone, we have one apiece. Bring his horse along with you."
Mounting, they rode quickly on, and at the top of the hill came up with
the girls; who, having seen the result of the combat, had waited for
them.
"Now we are safe and free, thanks to you both," Janet said. "Jessie
looked back, and saw the fight as we rode. How quickly it was over! But
I am grieved, indeed, that John has fallen. We saw you carrying off his
body, and covering it. Jessie had noticed him fall, and we feared 'twas
all over with him. He was an old retainer of our father's, and a
faithful one."
"I am sorry, indeed, that he has been slain, Janet; but we could hardly
expect to come out altogether scatheless."
"Are all the others killed?" Jessie asked.
"No. Two of them are but stunned; and will, ere long, be able to mount
and ride off again."
"Master Oswald has gained the most honours in the fight. I killed one,
and stunned another. He has stunned one also, but has slain two."
"I had a better arm, Roger."
"I know not that," Roger replied. "A quarterstaff, of that weight, is a
fine weapon. I say not that it is to be compared to a mace but, when on
foot, I would as lief have it as a sword."
"Now, Jessie, do you mount John's horse. We can ride quietly, for
Longtown is but some three miles ahead."
They rested there for a couple of hours, then mounted again, and
crossed the Pentlands by a horse track between Cristindury and Gele
Craigs. Coming down into Tynedale, they put up for the night at the
first place they came to. At daybreak they set off northwards, crossed
Reddesdale, and came down, in the afternoon, into the valley of the
Coquet, within two miles of Yardhope.
Great indeed was the surprise and joy of John Forster and his wife,
when they made out the two girls riding, with Oswald, towards the hold.
"What miracle is this, lad?" the former said, while his wife was
embracing her nieces. "We heard, but two days since, of the raid on the
Armstrongs, and how the girls were carried off by the Bairds."
Here Oswald put his finger to his lips, to stop him from saying aught
of Jane Armstrong's death. He had, after dismounting, whispered in his
mother's ear, before she had time to speak to the girls, that as yet
they knew nought of their mother's death, and that he had left it to
her to break it to them.
"I have been, since, scouring the country," his father went on, "to try
to get my friends to take the matter up; but in truth, they were not
over willing to do so. All know that it is no slight enterprise to
attack the Bairds in their stronghold. We fared but badly, last time we
went there, though that was but a blow and a retreat; but all know that
the Bairds' hold is not to be taken like a country tower. 'Tis greatly
bigger and stronger than ours, and scarce to be attempted save by a
royal army; especially as the whole countryside would be swarming round
us, in a few hours after we crossed the border. This time, too, it is
no quarrel of my people; and, as they say, the risk would be indeed
great, and the loss very heavy.
"I sent off a messenger this morning to Armstrong, to tell him that I
feared I could not raise more than sixty spears; but with these I would
ride to Hiniltie, and join any force he could collect, and try with him
to surprise the Bairds' hold and rescue the girls, though it seemed to
be a mighty dangerous enterprise."
"He will have learnt, yesterday morning, Father, that we have carried
them off. We could have brought you the news last night, but to do so
we must have ridden fast and, the girls being with us, we thought it
were better to take two days over the journey. So we slept in Tynedale
last night."
"And how did you manage it? For unless you and Roger flew into the
Bairds' hold, and carried them off on your backs, I see not how it
could be managed. Why, the place is so strong that even the Douglases
have not cared to carry out the terms of the treaty, for the arrest of
William Baird as a notorious breaker of the truce between the two
countries."
"It was because I knew Armstrong deemed that it was scarce likely a
force could be gathered, by you and his friends, strong enough to
undertake such an enterprise, that we decided to rescue them by
strategy. The affair turned out to be easy enough."
And he then related, in detail, the manner in which he and Roger had
obtained entry into the hold, and had succeeded in rescuing his
cousins.
"By the bones of Saint Oswald, from whom you got your name, lad," John
Forster exclaimed, when he had finished his story, "you have carried
out the matter marvellously well! Hotspur himself could not have
contrived it better; and I own that I was wrong, and that that fancy of
yours, to be able to read and write, has not done you the damage that I
feared it would. Henceforth I will maintain, with all my might, that
these things in no way tend to soften a man; but on the contrary, in
some way sharpen his wits, and enable him to carry out matters with
plans, and contrivances, such as would scarce be conceived by men who
had not such advantage.
"But why do we not go inside?"
"I have been keeping you here, Father, because I doubt not that my
mother has been breaking the news to the girls, of their mother's
slaughter. I said nought to them about it. They knew the hold was
burnt, and I told them that Allan was wounded; but I thought that, if I
gave them the worst part of the news, it would throw them into such
deep grief as to unfit them for the journey. It might not have been
discovered till two hours after we had started that they had escaped,
and in that case we should have been mounted before the Bairds overtook
us, and it would have been a ride for life, and the girls would have
needed all their strength and courage to keep them up."
"It was as well so, Oswald, and doubtless your mother will break it
more easily to them than you could have done. Women are better at such
things than men, who are given to speak, bluntly and straight, what has
to be told."