orders had been issued that none should journey on the roads save those who had passes, and these had to be shown before entering any of the large towns. They therefore resolved to leave their horses, and to proceed on foot, as they could then travel by byways and across the country. There was some debate as to the best guise in which to travel, but it was presently determined to go as Egyptians, as the gipsies were then called. Harry walked into. Worcester, and there, at the shop of a dealer in old clothes, procured such garments as were nceded, and at an apothecary's purchased some dyes for staining the skin.

The next day, telling the landlord that they should leave the lame horse with him until their return, they started as before, Mike walking instead of riding. They presently left the main road, and finding a convenient place in a wood, changed their attire. Harry and Mike were dressed in ragged clothes, with bright handkerchiefs round their necks, and others round their heads. Jacob still retained his attire as a woman, with a tattered shawl round his shoulders, and a red handkerchief over his head. All darkened their faces and hands. They took the saddle from the horse, and placed the bundles, containing the clothes they had taken off, on his back. Mike took the bridle, Harry and Jacob walked beside, and so they continued for some miles along the lonely roads, until they came to a farm-house. Here they stopped. The farmer came out, and roughly demanded what they wanted. Harry replied that he wanted to sell their horse, and would take a small sum for it:

Y

'I doubt me,' the farmer said, looking at it, 'that that horse was not honestly come by. It suits not your condition. It may well be,' he said, 'the horse of some officer who was slain at Worcester, and which you have found roaming in the country.'

'It matters not,' Harry said, 'where I got it; it is mine now, and may be yours if you like it, cheap. As you say, its looks agree not with mine, and I desire not to be asked questions. If you will give me that donkey I see there, and three pounds, you shall have him.'

The offer was a tempting one, but the farmer beat them down a pound before he agreed to it. Then shifting their bundles to the donkey, they continued their way. At the next village they purchased a cooking-pot and some old stuff for a tent. Cutting some sticks, they encamped that night on some wild land hard by, having purchased provisions for their supper. Very slowly they travelled south, attracting no attention as they passed. They avoided all large towns, and purchased such things as they needed at villages, always camping out on commons and waste places. They could hear no news of the King at any of their halting places. That he had not been taken was certain; also, that he had not reached France, or the news of his coming there would have been known. It was generally supposed that he was in hiding somewhere in the south, hoping to find an opportunity to take ship to France. Everywhere they heard of the active search which was being made for him, and how the houses of all suspected to be favourable to him were being searched.

Travelling only a few miles a day, and frequently halting for two or three days together, the party crossed the Thames above Reading, and journeyed west into Wiltshire. So they went on until they reached the port of Charmouth, near Lime Regis. Here, as in all the sea-port towns, were many soldiers of the Parliament. They did not enter the town, but encamped a short distance outside, Harry alone going in to gather the news. He found that numerous rumours concerning the King were afloat. It was asserted that he had been seen near Bristol, and failing to embark there, was supposed to be making his way east along the coast, in hopes of finding a ship. The troops were loud in their expressions of confidence that in a few days, if not in a few hours, he would be in their hands, and that he would be brought to the scaffold, as his father had been.

Uneasy at the news, Harry wandered about the town, and at nightfall entered a small public-house near the port. Calling for some liquor, he sat down, and listened to the talk of the sailors. Presently these left, and soon after they did so three other men entered. One was dressed as a farmer, the other two as serving men. Harry thought that he noticed a glance of recognition pass between the farmer and the landlord, and as the latter placed some liquor and a candle on the table before the new-comers, Harry recognised in the farmer Colonel Wyndham, a Royalist with whom he was well acquainted. He now looked more closely at the two serving-men, and recognised in them the King and Lord Wilmot.

He sauntered across the room as if to get a light for his pipe, and said, in low tones,

'Colonel Wyndham, I am Harry Furness. there any way I can serve his Majesty.'

Is

'Ah! Colonel Furness, I am glad to see you,' the King said, heartily; though if you are hunted as shrewdly as I am, your state is a perilous one.'

'The landlord is to be trusted,' Colonel Wyndham said. 'We had best call him in. He said nothing before you, deeming you a stranger.'

The landlord was called in, and told Harry was a friend, whereupon he barred the door and closed the shutters, as if for the night. Then turning to Colonel Wyndham, whom alone he knew, he said,

'I am sorry to say that my news is bad, sir. An hour since I went round to the man who had engaged to take you across to St Malo, but his wife has got an inkling of his intentions. She has locked him into his room, and swears that if he attempts to come forth, she will give the alarm to the Parliament troops; for that she will not have herself and her children sacrificed by meddlings of his in the affairs of State.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ACROSS THE SEA.

HE announcement of the innkeeper struck consternation into the party.

'This is bad news indeed,' Colonel Wyndham said; 'what does your Majesty

advise now?'

'I know not, my good Wyndham,' King Charles replied. Methinks 'twere better that I should give myself up at once. Fate seems against us, and I'm only bringing danger on all my friends.'

'Your friends are ready to risk the danger,' Colonel Wyndham said ; and I doubt not that we shall finally place your Majesty in safety. I think we had best try Bridport. Unfortunately, the Roundheads are so sure of your being on the coast, that it is well-nigh impossible to procure a ship, so strict is the search of all who leave port. If we could but put them off your scent, and lead them to believe that you have given it up in despair here, and are trying again to reach Scotland, it might throw them off their guard, and make it more easy for us to find a ship.'

'I might do that,' Harry said. 'I have with me my comrade Jacob, who is about the King's height and stature. I will travel north again, and will in some