across," I said.

"That we can not; 'twill be over the horses' ears. The beasts will drown
themselves and us as well."

How we should have argued it out I do not know, for just then Jennifer's
horse, scenting the troop mounts on the farther shore, cocked tail and
ears, let out a squealing neigh, and fell to curveting and plunging in a
racket that might have stood for the splashings of an advancing army.

In a twinkling the outpost camp was astir and a bellowing hail came to
us across the water. Having no answer, the troopers began to let off
their pieces haphazard in the darkness; and with the singing _zip_ of
the first musket ball, Richard went battle-mad, as he always did in the
face of danger.

"At them!" he thundered, clapping spurs to his jaded beast and whipping
out the great claymore; and so we charged, the forlornest hope that ever
fell upon an enemy.

How we came ashore alive through the gun-fire is one of those mysteries
to which every battle adds its quota; but the poor beasts we rode were
not so lucky. Jennifer's horse went down while we were yet some yards
from the bank; and mine fell a moment later. To face a score of waiting
enemies afoot was too much for even Richard's rash courage; so when we
were free of the struggling horses we promptly dove for shelter under
the up-stream bank.

Here the darkness stood our friend; and when the redcoat troopers came
down to the river's edge with torches to see what had become of us, we
took advantage of the noise they made and stole away up-stream till a
shelving beach gave us leave to climb to the valley level above.

Richard shook himself like a water-soaked spaniel and laughed grimly.

"Well, here we are, safe across, horseless, and well belike to freeze to
death," he commented. "What next?"

I made him a bow. "You are on my demesne of Appleby Hundred, Captain
Jennifer, and it shall go hard with us if we can not find a fire to warm
a guest and a horse to mount him withal. Let us go to the manor house
and see what we can discover."

He entered at once into the spirit of the jest, and together we trudged
the scant mile through the stubble-fields to my old roof-tree. As you
would guess, we looked to find the manor house turned into an outpost
headquarters; but now we were desperate enough to face anything.

Howbeit, not to rush blindly into the jaws of a trap, we first routed
out the old black majordomo at the negro quarters; and when we learned
from him