t they
dreaded must follow, and felt how likely a battle-ground the moor would
prove in the neighbourhood of their peaceful homes.

The little petty encounters kept on day after day, week after week, as
if each side was practising its men and trying their strength for some
great fight to come, and all the while, round and about Barnstaple and
away toward Exeter, the forces were gathering, till all at once, when
least expected, scouts came in from east and west with news that told of
a probable encounter, perhaps before another sun had set.

Those who knew best, however, were not so sanguine till after that sun
had set, and among those was General Hedley, who gradually and
cautiously advanced, feeling his way step by step, each step being a
natural stronghold, which would help him against the dashing onslaughts
of Charles's cavaliers.

But forty-eight hours had not elapsed before the rival forces were face
to face, when a little skirmishing took place, and then darkness put an
end to the varied encounters, the combatants waiting for daylight, when
a battle was bound to ensue. This fight must inevitably prove serious
to one or the other side, and either the Parliamentarian forces would be
driven back into the far west, where their scattered strength could be
quenched as the remains of a fire are beaten out, or else the king's men
would be driven towards Exeter, after what must prove a deadly blow.

That night the occupants of Hall and Manor lay down to sleep within
hearing of the sentinels of each army, and the two lads, worn out with
fatigue, slept heavily, to dream of the homes they were so near--dreams
full of trouble and anxiety, as they seemed to see the sweet faces of
those they loved anxiously listening to the roar of gun and clash of
sword, and wondering what was to be their fate and where they could flee
if matters came to the worst.

A trumpet roused Scarlett Markham from his dream of home. The deep roll
of drums awakened Fred, and as daylight came, and the larks sprang from
the dewy moor to carol high in the soft, grey, gold flecked sky, there
was the trampling of men and the snorting of horses, and then the first
gun belched forth its destroying message against the advancing forces of
the king.

Needless to tell of that fight of brother against brother with the
horrors of the field. Hour after hour went by, hours of manoeuvring and
change of front, and always with the king's men gaining ground, and
d