The times., 1901-06-23

guard he left in a little coppice. two miles
from Newcastle, wSsale- he himself went
On into the village
The captain spraggtss his feet. why
make so long a tafe' OF IT." he cried "The
Pretender in Newcastle unguarded? Take
soft" / Interrupted "The Prince is
slippery, and il we hurry in this matter
he'll be through our fingers before we
know. Sit down. slr' ana VIII tell you
For the life of md,i could not help see
ing the dTon side OftfG situation Here
was |. stripping and q traitor seIf-con-
ana ordered this soEstdr of experiences to
seat himself and take eile matter calmly.
But then. you see. there We're thirty thcu-
sand pounds on Charles head, and !, who
did not wish to gain them, had ali the
better of the argument, with one who was
already dazzlCd by the prospect.
lie seated himself ~ my suggestion, but
fidgeted uneasly with the papers on the
table. what is his business in Newcas-
tle2'' he asked abruptly.
What is his usual business in the inter-
walls of marching" l answered. with
has a daughter
"Ay has he" broke in the captain,
smiling slightly for the first time-''for 1
kissed her as we came through this morn
7You kissed in good company. SIR" I
laughed: the Prince, ii / mistake not, Is
following your eNaffllGiee tnlS moment.
And then l scowled. and. Curse his gall
lantryr' | flashed, as If the words slip
ped ont before knew.
Again the other smiled. 81 begin to un-
derstand, he murmured ut is jealousy
then, that brings you here today?"
I Yes though | did not mean to own It.
He has robbed me, / tell you; the girl
| was mine before he came, and he took her
from me by trick.
/ regretted so to take away the charac-
ter of the mililer's daughter; but there
seemed no help for It.
You shall repay him." said the captain
| quietly. And then ! heard him mutter
The tale fits well With what we know of
the Pretender. 1t is just what they are
saying all through Ehgland--futter wo-
mans gown before his eyes, and there'll
| be no army needed To take him in a trap
The taunt stung me but | checked my
impulse to defend the Prince Sir" / an
swered. I'VE will prove within the hour
| that he has followed once toe often his
passion for the SEX
The captain got 20 his feet again. and
couldssee that he was counting over the
tale of those thirty thousand guineas
Your visit is well-timed, sir; come will
you ride with me to the miler's and help
to make the capture sure2'
You could not do well without me-"
answered coolly "since there are by-ways
from the house that you know nothing of.
| Besides ! aim at vengeance and that will
not be satisfied unless / see him taken
True; | only aim at honor. and revenge
! Is more potent SPUR, they say
You only aim at honor, sir; there is no
| price upon the Princes head, / put in
! with an irony that was not over safe.
He only glanced at me, however, as if
he found unsupported depths in one whom
he had rated lightly will a score OF
men make 1t safer he asked.
| They will not The Princes guard, fff-
| ~ strong. lie hidden as | told you two
miles from Newcastle. They have orders.
! in toward nightfall, and it may well be
/ that we stumble on them either at the
mill or after we have. captured him"
How far away is the main body of the
army said he, after long pause.
They lie at Leek tonight" i murmur-
| ed, disliking more than l had thought
| possible the need tol Glance from the
/ truth. ETS
! tom He glanced sharply at me
| Mr.. Weir would d6uatless have brought
we not discourteousiy prevented him" /
/ answered dryly. ':H5E many men have
| you at command" sE
| Two hundred" 5tfs&
"Alt mounted?" -
yes"
Then bring Them an I went on; 81
/ tell you, there shah beeno miscarriage in
/ this matter. If We take too few. and
| meet the Prince guard. and lose him.
| I'll-your pardon, sir / had in mind to
| threaten you; and that would mean death,
| would It not, seeing what our positions
Your good faith ssssre enough, at any
! rate. and that is 'iff / care about" he
| said. Besides sir. dye think I'm one
! whit less eager than -yourself2 But take
! all my men | cannot, for Sir Peter Tai
! bot is a prisoner worth the keeping"
But Sir Peter is bound, l take 1t?
| And surely two armed troopers can see
! to one mans safety. Look you sir.
! they're devils to fight. these fifty High
/ landers OF the Princes, and we shall need
| all our force"
I had struck a true note there and by
his face l saw that he shared that dread
| of the Highlanders which more than once
had palsied the good folk of England.
/ You are right he said; Il will take
| them. all but two"
My credit was established once for all,
/ and the captain. in his keenness to Sc
/ cure the royal captive, detected no trace
| of my anxiety that Sir Peter should be
! left with a guard so slender; and. as |
followed him out into the garden |
! smiled to think that four of our own
! picked troops were already lying in am
| bush near at hand. waiting only until
! they heard the Kings dragons ride OF
/ into the night.
The officer called to his trumpeter; the
! boOt-and-saddle call rang echoing up the
hills and soon we were galloping hard
| toward the village. A half-mile from the
| miller's we called a halt and made for
ward cautiously; and as / rode at the
left hand of the captain, l saw that he
/ was vastly restless.
I'VE are all but there,"I muttered. ''Wir
| you let me take the conduct Of this mat
| cape, for l studied them well before
| left the Prince here earlier in the day
Ay, you shall have the conduct of it
and remember that we play for no light
stakes. Dead or alive the warrant ran
If you recall"
Dead or alive" I answered, and knew
| that Archie MacGregor was willing tC
share with me that grim alternative.
Grace of our Lady. how that scene
| comes back to me- The dry road with
the north wind fieeting down it; the frost
| ed hedgerOws; the round bright moon
! and the little stars that hung like Ian
/ terms from the blue-blaCk OF the sky
! And here was |, with 200 troopers of the
Csurper behind me, leading them into as
| falr a trap as ever moon or stars OF
! frosted landscape looked upon.
| "Ionder is the mill" | said, pointing
to n star of light that fckered out on the
| roadway. Give me half the men, sir
| and / will guard the lane that goes alone
the garden WALL do you make attack upoT
the front, and one way or the other We
VIII have him safe. The Highlanders.
warrant, are nowhere within pisto
I range"
The captain. seeing how clearly I hat
planned 1t out, consented. and / took my
men some score yards down the road. t
where the lane came into it, and edged
my horse so wei across the narrow way
that those behind me could see nothing
OF what CHANGED in that direction.
'Son There is a saddled horse JUS
the bend" / whispered-and it was tn,
truth | spoke-'I hear it champing at tn,
bit, and it is 10 to l that we on this sid,
OF the house will get the credit of th'
capture"
The men began to cock their pistols
but l was rough with them.
Ye fools, dye want to spoil 1t all?"
snapped. Put up your pistols, for heI
more use TO us alive than dead"
The men obeyed me- without protest
and a moment later / heard the cantaiI