broke from the robbers, and was now quietly regaling himself on a patch
of grass by the roadside. "He can get his supper, the beast," grunted
the Corporal, thinking of his own; and bid one of the party try to catch
the animal, which, however, would have declined all such proffers, had
not a long neigh of recognition from the roman nose of the Corporal's
steed, striking familiarly on the straggler's ear, called it forthwith,
to the Corporal's side; and (while the two chargers exchanged greeting)
the Corporal seized its rein.

When they came to the spot from which the robbers had made their sally,
all was still and tranquil; no Walter was to be seen: the Corporal
cautiously dismounted, and searched about with as much minuteness as
if he were looking for a pin; but the host of the inn at which the
travellers had dined the day before, stumbled at once on the right
track. Gouts of blood on the white chalky soil directed him to the
hedge, and creeping through a small and recent gap, he discovered the
yet breathing body of the young traveller.

Walter was now conducted with much care to the inn; a Surgeon was
already in attendance; for having heard that a gentleman had been
murdered without his knowledge, Mr. Pertinax Fillgrave had rushed from
his house, and placed himself on the road, that the poor creature might
not, at least, be buried without his assistance. So eager was he to
begin, that he scarce suffered the unfortunate Walter to be taken
within, before he whipped out his instruments, and set to work with the
smack of an amateur.

Although the Surgeon declared his patient to be in the greatest possible
danger, the sagacious Corporal, who thought himself more privileged
to know about wounds than any man of peace, by profession, however
destructive by practice, could possibly be, had himself examined those
his master had received, before he went down to taste his long-delayed
supper; and he now confidently assured the landlord, and the rest of the
good company in the kitchen, that the blows on the head had been mere
fly-bites, and that his master would be as well as ever in a week at the
farthest.

And, indeed, when Walter the very next morning woke from the stupor,
rather than sleep, he had undergone, he felt himself surprisingly
better than the Surgeon, producing his probe, hastened to assure him he
possibly could be.

By the help of Mr. Pertinax Fillgrave, Walter was detained several days
in the town; nor is it w