about to return home,
when, on looking along the road, he saw towards the east another body of
men on foot. It struck him that they might be the advanced guard of the
king's forces, and that it would be prudent to keep out of their way.
He hurried back, therefore, to the plantation in which he had before
concealed himself. As they came up they appeared to be marching in
tolerable order, and he soon saw by their flags that they were the Duke
of Monmouth's men. They had among them several horses and a number of
persons, who were evidently prisoners by the way they were guarded.
Here and there some of the men appeared to have been wounded. Then
there must have been fighting, and Monmouth's party after all have been
victorious, thought Roger. He now returned home to make his report. He
had done nothing heroic, but he had acted with prudence in keeping out
of the way. The Colonel, with Madam Pauline and Alice, was preparing to
go to church when he arrived, and by his uncle's desire he accompanied
them. When they reached the church-door, however, except Master Holden
and the clerk, with half a dozen poor women, no one was there.
Notwithstanding, Master Holden performed the service, but it was evident
that he was puzzled what to preach about, as it would have been useless
to such a congregation to warn them against rebellion, as had probably
been his intention. He therefore dismissed them without his usual
address, observing that at any moment bodies of armed men might be
visiting their peaceful village, and that they would be safer in their
own houses than abroad. From Roger's account the Colonel had no doubt
that Bridport had been attacked, that the cavalry having been roughly
handled had retreated, neither horses nor men being accustomed to stand
fire, while the infantry perhaps had held their own, having driven back
their enemies, and had retired in good order. Roger wanted to go out
again after dinner to obtain some more news, but the Colonel forbade him
to leave the grounds, as it was likely that the king's forces would
advance upon Lyme, if they were in sufficient number, and he might
uselessly get involved in a skirmish. The remainder of the day,
however, passed quietly. The next morning Roger was to start on his
journey. He rose at an early hour; the whole family were up to see him
off. It had been arranged that John Platt was to accompany him for the
first twenty miles on the road towards London. He had