Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-03-15
CHAPTER KIN.

CHAPTER XIII.
~ERCOMBE'S frankness proved of
~ a piece with his conduct hither-
to. / could not imagine the old
soldier making a bad blunder,
and the news that came to us later
demonstrated the method in his candGr.
Sheppard encountered the sergeant
near Llanellan and found that his ex-
petition into the Gwent had had no
luck. There was no camp in the bot
tom. Evidences of the recent presence
of strangers there were in plenty, but
not a sign remained to indicate into
what hiding place they had withdrawn.
To move a number of persons, with
their effects, and the men foreigners,
too, and thereby certain to attract the
attention of the villagers, would seem
/ impracticable without some public no.
tice. But apparently no one had seen
trace of the fugitives. They had van
ished as completely as though the en-
campment had been mirage of our
disordered brains.
1t was clear, however, that there
would be no assault upon the castle
that night. Jones and his troopers
hung about the village, and the for
mer was too jealous to allow any dis
order under his nose. Serconbe would
not dare to risk a second attack. That
much was for our comfort He had
| put it to me ingeniously that the inter-
ference of the police would embarrass
him, and ! was heartily glad to hear
1t, for we needed some further re-
sources for our defense. That was
plain enough. We had been able to
resist the enemy on his first two at
| tempts, but we had a most cunning
and deadly foe, and I began to doubt
| if we could hold out against renewal
of hostilities unless, indeed, we broke
our silent compact and called in the
assistance of the law. We had de-
cided to discard Williams from our So
ciety. He was too hazardous an ally,
and we could not hope to circumvent
| the police a second time. As it was, !
saw that some suspicious were breed
| ing in the sergeant's mini / suppose
we took too lightly what was bruited
/ about the country for a great "sensa-
ton" The storming of the castle even
! In the distorted narrative which Will
liams had delivered to. his friends
sounded remarkable in SO dull and I'M
eventftl a place as that countryside.
Pieces of rumor concerning it crept
into the London papers subsequently,
| and we were most unwillingly become
the figures in a tragic and heroic adj
venture.
We resolved despite the promised
respite to pretermit no one of the pre-
cautions, and Montgomery mounted
guard at o'clock on the keep tower.
| AS Sheppard and I sat over our wine
! we were interrupted by Mrs. Main,
who had been greatly stirred by the
visit of a Justice. She came ostensibly
with question, but in reality to
breathe the air of our central excite
ment
Il am to give Williams his supper
| tonight, as last night, sir?7 she asked.
! told her NO." and her wits wan
dered to the events of the day without
more ado.
| But presently she came back. "Then
I'm not to prepare supper for VIII
| liams, sir n
| civilians will not be sleeping here
| tonight, replied He left at the
usual hour-6 o'clock"
| Her face wore blank look, as Of
one struggling with perplexity, and, as
| Stunning that she had fears on her own
account to combat, went on, You
see, we shall be perfectly safe with
| the police looking after us.
H0h. Lord. sir, isn't that. she made