Oddsfish!

my Cousin Tom's mouth suddenly hang open and his eyes to become fixed. For myself, I cannot

ngue, and the scaffold and the knife-this is daunting to any man. I made no mistake upon the matter. If this were Dangerfield himself, my life was ended; he would not have come here, so far, and with such caution; he would not have been at the pains to smell

ture; and then I remembered that it wa

will be round the house by now. We

me suddenly by the arm

but cried out;

in, so that no man could mistake it, came a single step on the paved path; and in my mind I saw how two men had crossed

any doubt at all, that my Cousin Tom was considering whether he might save himself or no by hand

ed myself up. It was a pretty wide space within, sufficient to hold three or four men, though my clothes and a few books covered most of the floor; but the only light I had was from the candle that my Cousin Dolly carried in her hand.

*

there and to hear all that went on in th

n the roof of my little chamber from the candle that my Cousin Dolly carried; (and that line of light was as a star to me); then I heard a little whispering; the light went out; and I heard soft steps going upstairs. Then I h

and more beneath the windows everywhere, so that I could not escape any way. There came on a sudden loud hammerings and voices s

awakened and ran down from the garret. Then, overhead, across the lobby I heard my Cousin Tom's footsteps, and I nearly laughed to myself at the thought of the part that he must play, and of how ill he would play it. And al

e upon the stairs and one upon the kitchen passage, and these two had the doors in them. Above me was the lobby; and beneath me, first the little way into the back-hall,

nd I heard a gentleman's voice speaking. He was Mr. Harris, I learned afterward

g looked for, and what would be the charges against me. Now the voices came muffled; an

om say (which was an adroit lie indeed, as no one could tel

egan the gentleman's v

d Dick-a good friend of mine, ask what they were af

e Jesuits, and consp

footsteps went continually up and down; sometimes voices rose in anger; sometimes it was only a whisper that went by. I heard

it was as I might say, more of the intellect; and I pondered on what I heard my Cousin Tom say, and marvelled at his shrewdness; for fear, if it does not drive away wits, sharpens them wonderfully. He had, of course, put me in greater peril, by saying that I was gone to Rome; but he had saved himself very adroitly, for no witness in t

as at. I had not heard her voice all that time; and, on a sudden, after the men had been in the ho

them here as long as you

voice suddenly bene

stammered my Cou

so was the maid Nancy to whom she had spoken. At first I could make nothing of it, nor why she had said what she had; and then, as I heard them all go into the par

y, and understood that he was kept from his daughter-which was the best thing in the world for me, since he might very well have spoiled the whole design. At last I heard Dolly cry out very loud; then I heard the parlour-door open and three or four men came tumbling out, who ran beneath my hiding-hole and out through the

r, "I am sorry indeed to have troubled you in this way; but I am the King's justi

idge," stamme

s I prefer the lady's. For, first, we should have seen him if he had come by Puckeridge, since we have been lying there since three o'clock this afternoon; and

gan my Cousin To

kway; and my men are gone to get the horses out to follow

's sobbing as she

he gentleman forced it out of me. I c

feigned grief; and I think I loved my Cousin Dolly then as never before. It

like this. But you have done your duty as an English maid

hear her; and I was a little sorry for the poor gentleman too. He was so stupid, an

yn, I must not delay any long

and then fell a-crying again. When the door of the kitchen passage shut-for they were all gone out by now-her crying ceased mighty soon; and t

at a dozen at least must have come after me; and I heard the voices of the men too as they rode away, grow faint and cease. Then I heard

and the men too were tramping in and upstairs, while the maids went back to bed through the

ly enough then; and though I was dazed with the candlelight the first thing that I saw was Dolly's face,