e should not return, I was
to find a token in a hollow tree near the place of meeting; but the
thread in the forelock told us our friends had found each other.

When we left the castle, Mary wore under her riding habit a suit of
man's attire, and, as we rode along, she would shrug her shoulders and
laugh as if it were a huge joke; and by the most comical little
pantomime, call my attention to her unusual bulk. So when she found
Brandon, the only change necessary to make a man of her was to throw
off the riding habit and pull on the jack-boots and slouch hat, both
of which Brandon had with him.

They wasted no time you may be sure, and were soon under way. In a few
minutes they picked up the two Bristol men who were to accompany them,
and, when night had fairly fallen, left the by-paths and took to the
main road leading from London to Bath and Bristol. The road was a fair
one; that is, it was well defined and there was no danger of losing
it; in fact, there was more danger of losing one's self in its
fathomless mud-holes and quagmires. Brandon had recently passed over
it twice, and had made mental note of the worst places, so he hoped to
avoid them.

Soon the rain began to fall in a soaking drizzle; then the lamps of
twilight went out, and even the shadows of the night were lost among
themselves in blinding darkness. It was one of those black nights fit
for witch traveling; and, no doubt, every witch in England was out
brewing mischief. The horses' hoofs sucked and splashed in the mud
with a sound that Mary thought might be heard at Land's End; and the
hoot of an owl, now and then disturbed by a witch, would strike upon
her ear with a volume of sound infinitely disproportionate to the size
of any owl she had ever seen or dreamed of before.

Brandon wore our cushion, the great cloak, and had provided a like one
of suitable proportions for the princess. This came in good play, as
her fine gentleman's attire would be but poor stuff to turn the water.
The wind, which had arisen with just enough force to set up a dismal
wail, gave the rain a horizontal slant and drove it in at every
opening. The flaps of the comfortable great cloak blew back from
Mary's knees, and she felt many a chilling drop through her fine new
silk trunks that made her wish for buckram in their place. Soon the
water began to trickle down her legs and find lodgment in the
jack-boots, and as the rain and wind came in tremulous little whirs,
she felt wr