oundheads, and passed the time as cheerfully as
might be. Harry, however, with the restlessness of his age, longed for
liberty. He knew that Prince Charles was in command of the army in the
west, and he longed to join him and try once more the fortunes of
battle. The guard set round the building was close and vigilant, and the
chances of escape appeared small. Still, Harry thought that if he could
escape from an upper window on a dark night he could surely make his way
through the line of sentries. He had observed on moonlight nights the
exact position which each of these occupied. The intervals were short
between them; but it would be quite possible on a dark night for a
person to pass noiselessly without being perceived. The watch would have
been even more strict than it was, had not the Puritans regarded the
struggle as virtually at an end, and were, therefore, less careful as to
their prisoners than they would otherwise have been. Harry prepared for
escape by tearing up the blankets of his bed and knotting them into
ropes. A portion he wrapped round his shoes, so as to walk noiselessly,
and taking advantage of a dark, moonless night, when the fog hung thick
upon the low land round Reading, he opened his window, threw out his
rope, and slipped down to the ground.

So dark was the fog that it was difficult for him to see two paces in
advance, and he soon found that the careful observations which he had
taken of the place of the sentries would be altogether useless. Still,
in the darkness and thickness of the night, he thought that the chance
of detection was small. Creeping quietly and noiselessly along, he could
hear the constant challenges of the sentries round him. These, excited
by the unusual darkness of the night, were unusually vigilant. Harry
approached until he was within a few yards of the line, and the voices
of the men as they challenged enabled him to ascertain exactly the
position of those on the right and left of him. Passing between these,
he could see neither, although they were but a few paces on either hand,
and he would have got off unobserved had he not suddenly fallen into a
deep stream running across his way, and which in the darkness he did not
see until he fell into it. At the sound there was an instant challenge,
and then a piece was discharged. Harry struggled across the stream, and
clambered out on the opposite side. As he did so a number of muskets
were fired in his direction by the men who