power.
What chance, think ye, hath the Duke against the King's forces?'

'As much chance as a farmyard fowl against a spurred gamecock, did he
rely only on those whom he hath with him,' Saxon answered. 'He hath
reason to think, however, that all England is like a powder magazine,
and he hopes to be the spark to set it alight.'

The old man shook his head sadly. 'The King hath great resources,' he
remarked. 'Where is Monmouth to get his trained soldiers?'

'There is the militia,' I suggested.

'And there are many of the old parliamentary breed, who are not too far
gone to strike a blow for their belief,' said Saxon. 'Do you but get
half-a-dozen broad-brimmed, snuffle-nosed preachers into a camp, and the
whole Presbytery tribe will swarm round them like flies on a honey-pot.
No recruiting sergeants will ever raise such an army as did Noll's
preachers in the eastern counties, where the promise of a seat by the
throne was thought of more value than a ten-pound bounty. I would I
could pay mine own debts with these same promises.'

'I should judge from your speech, sir,' our host observed, 'that you are
not one of the sectaries. How comes it, then, that you are throwing the
weight of your sword and your experience into the weaker scale?'

'For the very reason that it is the weaker scale,' said the soldier of
fortune. 'I should gladly have gone with my brother to the Guinea coast
and had no say in the matter one way or the other, beyond delivering
letters and such trifles. Since I must be doing something, I choose to
fight for Protestantism and Monmouth. It is nothing to me whether James
Stuart or James Walters sits upon the throne, but the court and army of
the King are already made up. Now, since Monmouth hath both courtiers
and soldiers to find, it may well happen that he may be glad of my
services and reward them with honourable preferment.'

'Your logic is sound,' said our host, 'save only that you have omitted
the very great chance which you will incur of losing your head if the
Duke's party are borne down by the odds against them.'

'A man cannot throw a main without putting a stake on the board,' said
Saxon.

'And you, young sir,' the old man asked, 'what has caused you to take a
hand in so dangerous a game?'

'I come of a Roundhead stock,' I answered, 'and my folk have always
fought for the liberty of the people and the humbling of tyranny. I come
in the place of my father.'

'And you, sir?' our questione