Upon this the man set off surlily enough, and we followed him, Philip and myself anxious and eager now that we knew Rose was near at hand. The innkeeper turned into the meadow at the rear of his house, and crossing it, led us into a thick belt of wood where the only path was a narrow one, so that we were bound to ride in single file.
“Come hither, gentlemen,” said Captain Trevor, dismounting and taking up a position by our prisoner. “This fellow shall tell us what he knows. Now, sirrah, speak plainly.”
Thus adjured, the man confessed, with much reluctance, that himself and another, instigated by Dennis Watson, had brought away a young lady from Dale’s Field, and had secured her in a lonely house beyond the belt of wood we were now approaching, where she had since been guarded by the other man and his wife.
“But, indeed, gentlemen,” he said in conclusion, “indeed there hath no harm befallen the maiden, and no insult hath been offered her. Of a surety I should not have meddled with the matter if there had been aught evil. Nay, Master Watson did warrant us ’twas naught but a love affair, and that he was rescuing the young lady—”
“Hold thy tongue, sirrah!” commanded Captain Trevor. “A villainous pack are ye all, and shall be punished soundly for your pains. Is yond the house thou speak’st of, sirrah?”
The man answered humbly enough that it was, and we filed out of the wood and went across a clearing towards it. But we had not gotten within fifty paces of it, when one of our vanguard cried out that there was a man escaping from the house into the fields beyond, and at the same moment another announced the flight of a woman in another direction.
“ ’Tis Tom Porter and his wife,” said our guide. “They have seen us coming and are fleeing for their lives.”
“A crown piece to the men who first lay hands on them,” said Captain Trevor, and forthwith the leading troopers went galloping over hedge and ditch after the fugitives, while the rest of us went on to the house.
And now I need hardly tell you with what joy Philip Lisle and myself found our dear Rose, who was busy unfastening the door when we reached the house, her gaolers having left her when they saw us approaching. Then our terrible anxiety was relieved, for she hastened to assure us that she was no worse for her adventures, and had kept up her courage by telling herself that we should ere long come to her assistance.
Now, by that time the soldiers had brought back the man and woman, and Captain Trevor and I went out to them, leaving Rose with her father.
“What shall we do with these knaves, Master Dale?” said Captain Trevor. “We cannot whip the woman, so let her go, men. But as for you, master innkeeper, and you, master innkeeper’s brother villain, we will make you dance to such a tune as you ne’er heard before.”
And with that he caused his men to tie the two men up to a stout oak, one on each side, and having stripped them to their waists, the troopers gave them such a sound thrashing with their halters that the wood reechoed with their unheeded cries for mercy. But I regretted very deeply that Dennis Watson was not there to settle his account with me, which I would have exacted of him in a still more stringent fashion.
XXXVII
Of Our Visit to Castle Hill
When we had sufficiently rewarded master innkeeper and his companion in villainy according to their several deserts, we thought it time to be moving on our way, and one of the troopers fetched Rose’s horse from the inn, where it had been stabled during her imprisonment. So presently Philip Lisle brought her forth, ready for the ride, and we departed, assuring the two men whom we left tied to the tree that we had not yet done with them, but would see that the law punished them for their naughtiness in proper fashion.
“And as to your master and instigator,” said Captain Trevor, “tell him, when he returns hither, that it will be an ill day for him if we come across his path. For what we have done to you is naught to what we will do to him.”
Now, I was in fiery haste to return to Dale’s Field, because the men had told us in response to our questions that Dennis Watson had gone homewards only that morning, promising to return in two days at the latest. When I heard that, I was resolved to seek him at his own place, and there settle matters between us once for all, and with this object in view I spurred on my companions so that I might get the business over. Captain Trevor, however, was of opinion that the best way to catch Dennis was to wait for him at the point where we then were, because, said he, the villain was certain to return to that place, whereas he might get wind of our coming to Castle Hill and give us the slip. But I was not willing to take this counsel, arguing rather that it would be better to proceed straight to the Watsons’ farmstead, where Dennis would certainly be found that day. So we proceeded towards Doncaster, to which town Captain Trevor and his men accompanied us, and as we journeyed thither Rose told us of how she had fared since the day she left Dale’s Field, which history did but serve to increase my great anger against Dennis Watson.
When the two serving-men, who were none other than the villains we had just whipped in the wood, presented themselves at Dale’s Field with the letter from her father, Rose had not seen reason for doubting their word, for the letter was cunningly made to represent Philip Lisle’s handwriting, and the
