thers, and had gathered
primroses and violets in the springtime. She could recognize the group
of tall elms, and knew that if she kept to the right she might creep
through a hole in the hedge, and make her way across some fields into
the high road. As quietly as some little dormouse or night animal she
stole along.

"Not far off she could see the great camp fire, round which the
troopers were preparing their supper. She hoped they would all be too
busy with their cooking to notice her. As she passed behind some
bushes she suddenly caught the gleam of a steel helmet within a few
yards of her. She crouched down under the shelter of a clump of gorse.
But in doing so she made a faint rustle.

"'Halt! Who goes there?' came the challenge.

"Joyce's heart was beating so loudly that she thought it must surely
be heard.

"The sentry listened a moment, then levelling his pistol, sent a shot
through the gorse bush. It passed within a few inches of her head, but
she had the presence of mind not to cry out or move. Evidently
thinking he was mistaken, the sentry paced farther on, and Joyce,
seizing her golden opportunity, slipped through the hole in the hedge.
Still using the cover of bushes, she made her way across three fields,
and reached the road. It was quite dark now, but she knew her
direction, and turned up a by-lane where she would be unlikely to meet
troopers. All night she walked, guiding herself partly by the stars,
for she knew that Charles's Wain always pointed to the north. At dawn
a very tired and worn-out little maiden presented herself at the
gateway of Hepplethorpe Manor, demanding instant audience of Sir Roger
Rivington. That worthy knight and loyal supporter of the Crown, on
hearing her story, immediately sent horsemen with a letter to General
Bright, of the King's forces, who lay encamped only five miles off;
and he, marching without delay for Marlowe Grange, surprised the
Parliamentarians and completely routed them. The half-starved garrison
opened the great gates to their deliverers with shouts of joy, and, we
may be sure, welcomed the supplies of food that poured into the house
later on. As for Joyce, she must have been the heroine of the
family."

"Is that all?" asked the girls, as Veronica paused and began to count
the stitches in the sock she was knitting.

"All that's in the book, and I've embroidered it a little. It was told
in such a very dull fashion, so I put it in my own words. It's quite
tr