Page:The Children of the New Forest - 1847 - Marryat.djvu/291

 them by all the laws of war and chivalry; but first let us dismount and look to the wounded."

They tied their horses to a tree, and having given what assistance they could to the wounded men, they proceeded to strip three of the Parliamentary troopers; and then laying aside their own habiliments, they dressed themselves in the uniform of the enemy, and mounting their horses, made all haste from the place. Having gained about twelve miles, they pulled up their horses, and rode at a more leisurely pace. It was now eight o'clock in the evening, but still not very dark; they therefore rode on another five miles, till they came to a small village, where they dismounted at an alehouse, and put their horses into the stable.

"We must be insolent and brutal in our manners, or we shall be suspected."

"Very true," said Grenville, giving the ostler a kick, and telling him to bestir himself, if he did not want his ears cropped.

They entered the alehouse, and soon found out they were held in great terror. They ordered every thing of the best to be produced, and threatened to set fire to the house if it was not; they turned the man and his wife out of their bed, and all three went to sleep in it; and, in short, they behaved in such an arbitrary manner, that nobody doubted that they were Cromwell's horse. In the morning they set off again, by Chaloner's advice paying for nothing that they had ordered, although they had all of them plenty of money. They now rode fast, inquiring at the places which they passed through, whether any fugitives had been seen, and, if they came to a town, inquiring, before they entered, whether there were any Parliamentary troops. So well did they manage, that after four days they had gained the skirts of the New Forest, and concealed themselves in a thicket till night-time, when Edward proposed that he should conduct his