n the morning when I was wakened by some armed
men, evidently our sentries, who rolled me over without ceremony.

"Wake up, young master," they said, grinning. "You'm wanted. You be to
get up to go a errand. You be a soldier now. You does your sleeping in
peace-times when you be a soldier," I sat up blinking my eyes, in the
early light, thinking how nice t'other forty winks would be.

"Heigho," I yawned. "All right. I'm awake. What is it? What's the
matter?"

"Lord Grey be a wanting you, young master," said one of the men. "Down
there, where them horses be in the road." I picked myself up at that,
wishing for a basin of water into which I might shove my head.

"Yes, yes," I said. "Thank you. I'll go down." I left my blanket where
it was, as I expected to be back in a few minutes. I walked down hill
out of the camp to the road where the horses stood; there were four
horses, two of them mounted. The mounted men were regular country
bumpkins, with green sprays in their hats, like the rest of our men; but
their horses were pretty good, much better than most of those we had.
One of them was a stocky old cob, which was no doubt to be mine.
The other was a beast with handsome harness for Lord Grey. "Alas," I
thought. "No more sleep for me. I've got to ride. I wonder where we are
going." The men touched their hats to me; for as I was in the Duke's
retinue I was much respected. Some of them no doubt thought I was a
princeling or little lord.

"Where are we going?" I asked the troopers.

"Going scouting out towards Colyton yonder, sir," said one of them. "Us
be to pick up his Lordship in the town."

CHAPTER XIX. I MEET THE CLUB MEN

I wondered when I was to get breakfast; but I knew Lord Grey well enough
to know that he was not a man to go willingly without food for more than
a few hours at a time. Breakfast I should have presently, nor would it
be skin-boiled beef, smelling of singed hair. So I mounted my cob with
a good will. The first trooper rode by my side, the other waited for a
moment to examine the feet of Lord Grey's charger. He trotted after
us, leading the riderless horse, some fifty yards behind us. We trotted
smartly through Axminster, where we set the dogs barking. People sprang
from their beds when they heard us, fearing that we were an army coming
to fight. We cantered out of the town over the river, heading towards a
hilly country, which had few houses upon it. I looked back after leaving
Axminster,