stout staff in exchange; and thus accoutred they regained the highway, for the pressing and indispensable object of replenishing their exhausted larder.

Scarcely, however, had they proceeded two hundred paces, when, upon a sudden turn of the road, they unexpectedly came upon a straggling party of dragoons, whose leader had no sooner caught a glimpse of them, than he clapped spurs to his horse, galloped up, and, hastily dismounting, seized Sir John roughly by the collar, crying out- -«So ho, my lord pedlar, have we found you at last? Here is the blue box at his back, and the bunch of roses painted upon the lid, exactly as it was described to us. I know you, my Lord of Ormond, and I arrest you in name of his Highness the Lord Protector. And who is this shabby chough by your side? another of the plotters and malignants?»

With a promptitude of thought rather in unison with the generous kindness of his heart, than the customary singleness of his apprehension, Sir John had determined, while his antagonist was making this speech, to favour the mistake by substituting himself for the marquess, and adopt a line of conduct which might at least enable one of them to escape. Before the latter, therefore, could make any attempt at explanation, he exclaimed to the officer-«I surrender myself, Captain, and demand civil treatment and safe escort to London. This sturdy bumpkin with the bludgeon had already discovered and made me his prisoner, in expectation, I suppose, of the reward, but as he threatened to expose me to some of his fanatical crew at Lewes, to

which place he was conducting me, I am not sorry to fall into better hands. »

The remainder of the party, who had now rode up, not in the least desiring a participator either in the honour or probable profit of the arrest, drew their swords, and, refusing to hear one word that the marquess had to utter, drove him away with many opprobrious epithets; after which they hastily mounted Sir John behind one of their body, and set off with their prisoner at a brisk pace.

in

Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the marquess, accustomed as he was to all the strange turns and vicissitudes of war, at his own marvellous escape this unexpected adventure, and the adroit promptitude of Sir John, which indeed seemed much more surprising than the magnanimity of the action. That he should desert one who had just made such a noble sacrifice for his safety, was utterly inconsistent with the character of the Marquess of Ormond; he determined, therefore, to abandon his first design of making for the sea, and remain concealed in the country, with the intention of offering himself to the Protector in exchange for Sir John, should the latter be ultimately brought to trial, or exposed to any serious jeopardy.

CHAPTER V.,

He might put on a hat, a muffler, and a kerchief, and so escape.» SHAKSPEARE.

He

AFTER the ebullition of the first generous impulse which had stimulated Sir John to surrender himself for the preservation of a life which he knew to be twice as valuable to the King's cause as his own, his reflections assumed a somewhat dreary and disconsolate cast. could not think without compunction upon the destitute and unprotected situation of his only child Jocelyn, abandoned to himself at a tender age, and in convulsive times, which had too often violently severed the closest bonds of friendship, and occasioned the nearest claims of consanguinity to be utterly disregarded. Brambletye House, with its sports and luxuries, its tempting store of stags without, and French wine within, rose regretfully to his memory; while it fretted and galled his inmost soul to consider that, so far from enjoying the triumph he had anticipated, and witnessing the restoration of the King, it seemed more than probable that he would himself fall a sacrifice to a set of men whom he mortally hated, and never designated in any other terms than as a gang of hypocrites, rebels, and regicides. Nor was the

conversation of the soldiers by whom he was guarded calculated to receive any alleviation by the empty honour they conferred upon him in styling him « my lord;"> for they discoursed of the different executions at which they had lately been present, those of Gerrard, Vowel, and other Royalist conspirators, whose cases were exactly similar to Sir John's. Some of them even speculated, although in a lower tone of voice, which he was not intended to hear, upon the place of his suffering; and a half-pound of tobacco was wagered upon the doubtful point whether it would be at Brambletye House, or Tower Hill.

upon

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The nature of this bet was probably suggested by the production of their tobacco-pipes, an appendage without which they never commenced a march, and which, however contrary to our present notions of discipline, they were even accustomed to smoke when upon duty. being provided with this solace, they chatted and trotted on for some miles, when Sir John observed that the horse upon which he was mounted, exhausted by so heavy an addition to its burthen, began to drop behind its companions, and exhibit symptoms of distress, although the spur was not sparingly applied. Either to give the animal a minute's breathing-time, or more probably to rekindle his pipe, which had become nearly extinct, the soldier halted, and continued so long occupied in coaxing the tobacco to burn, that when he looked up, his comrades, owing to a curve in the road, were no longer in sight. Angrily dashing his pipe to the ground at this discovery, he clapped spurs to his horse, and the animal plunging forwards and

tripping at the same time, came violently to the ground, in such a manner as to entangle and disable the dragoon, leaving Sir John uninjured, and in possession of his liberty. A hope of escape flashing through his mind like lightning, he darted into the wood which skirted the road on either side, and plunged into the thickest cover he could find. Perfectly aware that the rest of the party were only a trifling distance a-head, and already hearing the voice of the fallen dragoon, who was shouting to his companions, he felt that not a moment was to be lost; and the first expedient-that occurred to him being the same that was adopted by the King when flying from Worcester, he climbed hastily up a thick and lofty tree.

Hardly had he ensconced himself amid its closest and most leafy boughs, when the troopers were heard galloping back, and dashing through the underwood beneath, as if their sole chance of success depended upon their speed. An anxious and thrilling stillness succeeded, for in the eagerness of their first burst they were soon out of hearing; but he was by no means confident of his escape, rightly conjecturing that when they missed him in that direction, they would retrace their steps and institute a keener search. After a short interval, accordingly, their voices were again audible, as they returned slowly and dispersedly, beating the bushes, and hallooing to one another. But the shades of night were now closing rapidly around, and though some of them repeatedly approached the spot where he was concealed, he fortunately escaped detection, until the increasing darkness compelled them to abandon the search.