livid glare of the hot and
burning embers; and this did not extend far, for the walls were too
strongly built to fall in from their own weight; they were strong and
stout, and intercepted the little light the ashes would have given out.

The mob now began to feel fatigued and chilly. It had been standing and
walking about many hours, and the approach of exhaustion could not be
put off much longer, especially as there was no longer any great
excitement to carry it off.

The officer, seeing that nothing was to be done, collected his men
together, and they were soon seen in motion. He had been ordered to stop
any tumult that he might have seen, and to save any property. But there
was nothing to do now; all the property that could have been saved was
now destroyed, and the mob were beginning to disperse, and creep towards
their own houses.

The order was then given for the men to take close order, and keep
together, and the word to march was given, which the men obeyed with
alacrity, for they had no good-will in stopping there the whole of the
night.

The return to the village of both the mob and the military was not
without its vicissitudes; accidents of all kinds were rife amongst them;
the military, however, taking the open paths, soon diminished the
distance, and that, too, with little or no accidents, save such as might
have been expected from the state of the fields, after they had been so
much trodden down of late.

Not so the townspeople or the peasantry; for, by way of keeping up their
spirits, and amusing themselves on their way home, they commenced
larking, as they called it, which often meant the execution of practical
jokes, and these sometimes were of a serious nature.

The night was dark at that hour, especially so when there was a number
of persons traversing about, so that little or nothing could be seen.

The mistakes and blunders that were made were numerous. In one place
there were a number of people penetrating a path that led only to a
hedge and deep ditch; indeed it was a brook very deep and muddy.

Here they came to a stop and endeavoured to ascertain its width, but the
little reflected light they had was deceptive, and it did not appear so
broad as it was.

"Oh, I can jump it," exclaimed one.

"And so can I," said another. "I have done so before, and why should I
not do so now."

This was unanswerable, and as there were many present, at least a dozen
were eager to jump.

"If thee ca