and did not put on their harness till they were inside the house:
thus no one was aware of the preparations we were making. The tide
would not serve till an hour after midnight: we therefore waited till
nearly twelve o'clock before we set out.

The horses were brought round for Sir Thomas, with four stout
men-at-arms, who had been engaged as his guards. A'Dale and I went on
foot; he taking care of Richard, while I walked by the side of Aveline's
litter. With our swords drawn, and our pistols in our belts, ready for
instant use, we proceeded along the streets. Several persons passed us,
but if they were robbers, they must have seen that we were too strong a
party to be attacked with impunity. Thus we reached the water-side in
safety. We there found, much to our surprise, a number of people, all
of them with boxes and bundles on their backs, or under their arms--
quite a concourse they seemed in the gloom of night. As we entered our
boat, we saw that several other boats were ready, apparently for their
reception. There were old men and women and children, as well as many
young men. As the boats were filled, they rowed off down the river. We
could judge by their exclamations that they were in great haste, and
fearful of being overtaken. At length there was a cry, "The guard is
coming! the guard is coming!"

The men faced about and drew their weapons, while the remainder of the
women and children were hurried into the boats. Then their protectors
slowly retreated. The soldiers rushed forward, as they saw the number
of the fugitives on shore decreasing. The latter defended themselves
bravely. We were, of course, shoved off forthwith, lest the soldiers
might fire on us, as we saw them doing upon the helpless people in the
other boats. We judged, as we pulled down the river, from the flashes
of fire-arms, that none of the fugitives were longer defending
themselves on shore, but that either they had thrown themselves into the
water, or had escaped in the boats, unless they had been taken
prisoners. From the number of people, and the boats which were rowing
down the river with us, we thought there must have been one hundred or
more fugitives escaping from the fearful persecution of the terrible
Inquisitor, Peter Titelmann. From what Captain Rover had told me, I
concluded that these people were attempting to reach his ship. I prayed
earnestly that they might do so in safety. We urged our boatmen to row
as fa