well as he could with the bar, Jack struck both the
horses on the head, and the animals plunged so violently, that they not
only prevented their riders from assailing him, but also kept off the
hostlers; and, in the confusion that ensued, Jack managed to spring over
the fence, and shaped his course across the field in the direction of
Sir John Oldcastle's.

The stoppage had materially lessened the distance between him and his
pursuers, who now amounted to more than a hundred persons, many of whom
carried lanterns and links. Ascertaining that it was Sheppard of whom
this concourse was in pursuit, the two horsemen leapt the hedge, and
were presently close upon him. Like a hare closely pressed, Jack
attempted to double, but the device only brought him nearer his foes,
who were crossing the field in every direction, and rending the air with
their shouts. The uproar was tremendous--men yelling--dogs barking,--but
above all was heard the stentorian voice of Jonathan, urging them on.
Jack was so harrassed that he felt half inclined to stand at bay.

While he was straining every sinew, his foot slipped, and he fell, head
foremost, into a deep trench, which he had not observed in the dark.
This fall saved him, for the horsemen passed over him. Creeping along
quickly on his hands and knees, he found the entrance to a covered
drain, into which he crept. He was scarcely concealed when he heard the
horsemen, who perceived they had overshot their mark, ride back.

By this time, Jonathan and the vast mob attending him, had come up, and
the place was rendered almost as light as day by the links.

"He must be somewhere hereabouts," cried one of the horsemen,
dismounting. "We were close upon him when he suddenly disappeared."

Jonathan made no answer, but snatching a torch from a bystander, jumped
into the trench and commenced a diligent search. Just as he had arrived
at the mouth of the drain, and Jack felt certain he must be discovered,
a loud shout was raised from the further end of the field that the
fugitive was caught. All the assemblage, accompanied by Jonathan, set
off in this direction, when it turned out that the supposed housebreaker
was a harmless beggar, who had been found asleep under a hedge.

Jonathan's vexation at the disappointment was expressed in the bitterest
imprecations, and he returned as speedily as he could to the trench. But
he had now lost the precise spot; and thinking he had examined the
drain, turned