guard the top till the rest had
gained it. The first having mounted and made the signal that no one was
near, the rest of the men followed. Captain Radford then, taking
Aveline in his arms, mounted the ladder, Master Overton and I holding it
below. As he reached the top, she was safely lifted up. The rest of
the party quickly followed, when the ladder was once more drawn up, and
let down again on the other side. We had now to descend. While I stood
on the top, I could not help looking anxiously round, lest we might be
observed from any of the neighbouring towers.

The place at which Captain Radford and his men had landed was upwards of
a mile from the part of the wall we had scaled. He had directed those
in charge of the boats to row some little way down the river, and not to
return till he should make a signal for them to do so. On our way
Aveline gave me a brief account of what had happened to her, more of
which I heard afterwards. She was on her knees, praying that those dear
to her might be protected from the dangers which threatened them, when
she was startled by hearing the footsteps of several persons approaching
the room. Before she had time to secure the door, they burst it open,
and one of them, throwing a cloak over her, bore her downstairs. In
vain she struggled--in vain she cried out. Overawing the servants, they
hurried her into the streets, and carried her rapidly along till they
reached the door of a large house which stood open. They entered, and
she was conveyed upstairs into a handsome room, when she was placed on a
sofa and left alone. Her sole attendant was a young girl who seemed to
be dumb, and, at all events, from her she could not obtain the slightest
information of any description.

From the behaviour and language of the persons who had committed the
outrage, she was of opinion that they were far above the lower classes.
They had treated her with perfect respect; and it seemed that their
chief object in carrying her off was to obtain a ransom, under the
belief that she was the daughter of Master Clough or of Sir Thomas
Gresham. She added that, on the previous day, an old woman had come to
the house, and had had some conversation with its inmates. She had
visited her also, and told her to keep up her spirits, and to be
prepared to return to her friends within a few hours. True to her word,
she had appeared that morning, and, no one interfering, had, at the time
she had promised