They don't expect Monmouth to come to
Lenfield, do they, Master Gilbert?"
"It seems certain that he has come in this direction, Golding."
"Then stay you at home, Master Gilbert," pleaded the old man.
"Nonsense. The presence of a few militia-men in the neighbourhood is no
cause for fear. Tell them to let me have my horse at dawn."
Crosby did not sleep that night. Monmouth might come under cover of the
darkness, and he waited and listened through the long hours. At break of
day he was in the saddle again, but did not ride far afield. He hardly
left his own land, and it was evident that Lenfield was surrounded. In
the afternoon he returned home, unconscious that Monmouth had been taken
during the morning, found in a ditch clad in a shepherd's dress, and was
already on his way to Ringwood.
"Monmouth is taken," whispered Golding as Crosby dismounted.
"How do you know that? Who told you?"
"A man who came two hours ago. He is waiting."
"Is he a friend, do you think, Golding?"
"I do not know," Golding answered. "He said he would wait until you
came, and then demanded to be taken to the stables, where he tended his
own horse.
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