nd methinks she--"

But there Jacob stopped short, blushing even in the darkness at the
thought of what he had nearly said. Anchoring against the wooden
piles of the bridge, and letting his fancy run riot as it would, he
indulged in a shifting daydream, in which pain and a vague sense of
consolation were oddly blended. He sighed a good many times, but he
smiled once or twice likewise, and at last he gave himself a shake
and spoke out aloud.

"At least it shall make no cloud and no bitterness betwixt us
twain. He is a fine lad and a noble one, and he deserves more at
Dame Fortune's hands than such a clown as I. Shall I grudge him his
luck if he gets her? never a whit! There may not be more than one
Cherry in the world, but there are plenty of good wives and honest
maidens who will brighten a man's home for him."

Musing thus, Jacob kept his watch, and was not long in hearing
strange and cautious sounds above his head. Looking up, he beheld a
lithe form slipping, in something of a snake fashion, down the
woodwork of the bridge, and the next moment Cuthbert sprang softly
down, so deftly that the wherry only rolled a little at the shock.

"Hast thought me long? Hast been frozen with cold? I have made all
the haste I could. All is planned. This is not strange work to
them. See, I have brought with me this cradle of cord. We can place
Father Urban within, and they will draw him up from above, that no
man shall see him enter their house. All the windows be shuttered
and barred by now. None will see or hear. They have harboured many
a fugitive before, I take it. They had all the ropes and needful
gear ready beneath their hand at a moment's notice."

Whilst he was speaking, Cuthbert was wrapping the inanimate figure
in the cloaks, and placing it gently in the hammock, as we should
call it, that, suspended by strong cords from above, had assisted
him in his descent to the boat. Then at a given signal this
hammock, with its human load, was slowly and steadily drawn
upwards, with a cautious, silent skill that betokened use and
experience; and as the eager watchers pushed out their boat a
little further into the river, they saw the bulky object vanish at
last within the dimly-lighted window of the tall, narrow house. A
light was flashed for a moment from the window, and then all was
wrapped in darkness.

"All is well," exclaimed Cuthbert, with an accent of relief; "and I
trow that not a living soul but our two selves knows w