"Such a watch would henceforth
be kept that there would be no possibility, whatever, of effecting your
rescue. We must take our chance together.

"What think you had best be done, Roger?"

"In sooth, I know not. I am ready to do whatever you think best."

"We cannot hope to reach Parton, before they overtake us," Oswald said.
"Besides, the Bairds are sure to have many friends there, and the
lighted beacon will warn all the countryside that something unusual has
happened. No, we cannot think of going there."

"But you said that there were horses," Janet said.

"They are but a short distance on this side of the town. We could not
hope to get there before the Bairds; and, even if we did, it would be a
quarter of an hour before we could mount and be off."

"Could we not hide and get the horses after they have passed, master?"
Roger suggested.

"It would be useless, Roger. The road leads up and down this valley,
and there would be no possibility of riding the horses across the
hills, at night; so that we should have either to ride down through
Parton, or up past the Bairds' hold. No, the horses must be given up,
for the present. The only thing that I can see is to cross the Esk, and
to take refuge in the hills. I know not if there are any fords, or
where they are; but, were we to turn to the right, we should be getting
farther and farther away. The Esk is no great width, and we can carry
them across it, easily enough."

"The water will be dreadfully cold," Jessie said, with a shiver, for it
was now the beginning of April.

"Hush, Jessie!" her sister said. "What matters a little cold, when our
lives are at stake?"

"No, that is our only hope," Oswald said. "Quick, girls, there is no
time to lose."

The river was but some fifty yards from the road, and they ran down to
it.

"Now, girls," Oswald said when they reached it, "you must take off your
cloaks, and all upper garments. Were you to get these wet you would,
before morning, die of cold. Don't lose a moment. Undress under the
shelter of these bushes.

"Now, Roger, let us move a few yards away, and then take off our
doublets and shirts, and swim across, holding them above the water. By
the time that we are back, the girls will be ready."

"I will carry them across, master. It is of no use two of us going,
with so light a burden. I shall make nothing of it."

Oswald made no opposition and, a minute later, the shirts and doublets
were made into a bundle, a