that, as one may say, I am
a sort of cat without claws. I know not what they can have against me
now, or why I should be afraid of them; and yet, when I think of their
purgatory of a prison, it makes me crawl all over. A week's lodging
there would about make an end of me. I think I have never been quite
the man I was before, since they stuck me there."

Thus revolving in his mind the advantages and disadvantages of his
position, the remembrance of his sufferings during his imprisonment,
at last turned the scales in favor of liberty, and Philip began to
think of means to accomplish his purpose. He tried, by lagging behind
and falling down once or twice, to get into the rear; but this
manoeuvre the vigilant eyes of Lieutenant Venn detected, who ordered
him nearer to the front, and directed that he should be watched
closer. Foiled in this manner, that freedom which but a moment before,
and when apparently in his power, seemed almost a matter of
indifference, assumed a constantly increasing importance, and the mind
of Philip worked more actively than ever. In a short time they would
be out of the forest, when any attempt at evasion would be folly, for,
should he succeed in shaking off his guard, he would run great risk of
being shot down in the open space. It was therefore necessary to think
quickly.

"If I only had Prudence with me," thought Philip, "I be bound she
would have invented a dozen ways to get off by this time. Sweet wench!
there is some difference between sitting on a log with her and
stealing a smack once in a while, though a slap be pretty sure to
follow, and dragging my legs in the dark among the briers. But she is
not here, and so I will e'en take up with Master Arundel, and suck his
wits a bit."

"What think you," he whispered to his companion in captivity, "of
making a rush, and showing our heels to the Philistines?"

"It were madness," answered the young man, in the same manner. "Thou
wert sure to be retaken, perhaps shot."

"I have no fancy for either; but cannot your wit devise some mode to
save me from yon lock-up? My bones ache when I think of it."

"I have no desire to get away," answered Arundel; "nor understand I
how it can advantage thee, seeing that, sooner or later, thou art
tolerably certain of being made prisoner again."

"Nevertheless, there is a chance of better things; and I say once more
I like not the thoughts of the close quarters they intend for us. An'
you will not run for i