the last he was to hear for ten
years. Then they marched away in orderly array, with their arms,
intending to beat off all who might attack them before nightfall, and
then to break up and scatter, each for himself. William Long had friends
near Gloucester, and as his wound would prevent him from traveling
rapidly with Harry, he took farewell of him, and rode away with the
regiment. Harry, with Jacob and Mike, rejoined the king, and they rode
toward the gate by which the Roundhead troops were already entering the
town. The horsemen, however, had but little stomach for the fight, and
as the king advanced, in twos and threes they turned their horses'
heads and rode off.

Harry was riding close to the king, and looking round said at length,
"It is useless, your majesty. There are not a dozen men with us."

The king looked round and checked his horse. Besides his personal
friends, Buckingham, Wilmot, and one or two other nobles, scarce a man
remained. The king shrugged his shoulders. "Well, gentlemen, as we
cannot fight, we must needs run." Then the party turned their horses and
galloped out on the other side of Worcester. The country was covered
with fugitives. They soon came upon a considerable body of horse, who at
once attached themselves to the party. "These, gentlemen," the king
said, "would not fight when I wanted them to, and now that I would fain
be alone, they follow me."

At last, when darkness came on, the king, with his personal friends and
some sixty others, slipped away down a by-road, and after riding for
some hours came to a house called the White Ladies. Here for a few hours
they rested. Then a council was held. They had news that on a heath near
were some three thousand Scotch cavalry. The king's friends urged him to
join these and endeavor to make his way back into Scotland, but Charles
had already had more than enough of that country, and he was sure that
Argyll and his party would not hesitate to deliver him up to the
Parliament, as they had done his father before him. He therefore
determined to disguise himself, and endeavor to escape on foot, taking
with him only a guide. The rest of the party agreed to join the Scotch
horse, and endeavor to reach the border. After a consultation with
Jacob, Harry determined to follow the example of the king, and to try
and make his way in disguise to a seaport. He did not believe that the
Scotch cavalry would be able to regain their country, nor even if they
did w