he said, 'a Government man has been here, and
to all the houses, taking down the numbers of the women and children, and
their ages and the number of horses and waggons that can be mustered, in
case they have to retreat inland, out of the way of the invading army.'

The little family gathered themselves together, all feeling the crisis
more seriously than they liked to express. Mrs. Loveday thought how
ridiculous a thing social ambition was in such a conjuncture as this, and
vowed that she would leave Anne to love where she would. Anne, too,
forgot the little peculiarities of speech and manner in Bob and his
father, which sometimes jarred for a moment upon her more refined sense,
and was thankful for their love and protection in this looming trouble.

On going upstairs she remembered the paper which Farmer Derriman had
given her, and searched in her bosom for it. She could not find it
there. 'I must have left it on the table,' she said to herself. It did
not matter; she remembered every word. She took a pen and wrote a
duplicate, which she put safely away.

But Anne was wrong. She had, after all, placed the paper where she
supposed, and there it ought to have been. But in escaping from Festus,
when he feigned apoplexy, it had fallen out upon the grass. Five minutes
after that event, when pursuer and pursued were two or three fields
ahead, the gaily-dressed woman whom the yeoman had overtaken, peeped
cautiously through the stile into the corner of the field which had been
the scene of the scramble; and seeing the paper she climbed over, secured
it, loosened the wafer without tearing the sheet, and read the memorandum
within. Unable to make anything of its meaning, the saunterer put it in
her pocket, and, dismissing the matter from her mind, went on by the by-
path which led to the back of the mill. Here, behind the hedge, she
stood and surveyed the old building for some time, after which she
meditatively turned, and retraced her steps towards the Royal watering-
place.

XXVI. THE ALARM

The night which followed was historic and memorable. Mrs. Loveday was
awakened by the boom of a distant gun: she told the miller, and they
listened awhile. The sound was not repeated, but such was the state of
their feelings that Mr. Loveday went to Bob's room and asked if he had
heard it. Bob was wide awake, looking out of the window; he had heard
the ominous sound, and was inclined to investigate the matter.