way to turn--that was the foreground of the picture,
while behind them the remainder of the troop were riding furiously back,
wounded and hale, all driven by the one desire of getting to a place of
safety where they might rally their shattered formation. A great shout
of praise and thanksgiving rose from the delighted peasants, and
surging over the barricade they struck down or secured the few uninjured
troopers who had boon unable or unwilling to join their companions in
their flight. The carbines, swords, and bandoliers were eagerly pounced
upon by the victors, some of whom had served in the militia, and knew
well how to handle the weapons which they had won.

The victory, however, was by no means completed. The flanking squadron
had ridden boldly at the hedge, and a dozen or more had forced their way
through, in spite of the showers of stones and the desperate thrusts of
the pikemen and scythemen. Once amongst the peasants, the long swords
and the armour of the dragoons gave them a great advantage, and though
the sickles brought several of the horses to the ground the soldiers
continued to lay about them freely, and to beat back the fierce but
ill-armed resistance of their opponents. A dragoon sergeant, a man of
great resolution and of prodigious strength, appeared to be the leader
of the party, and encouraged his followers both by word and example.
A stab from a half-pike brought his horse to the ground, but he
sprang from the saddle as it fell, and avenged its death by a sweeping
back-handed cut from his broadsword. Waving his hat in his left hand he
continued to rally his men, and to strike down every Puritan who came
against him, until a blow from a hatchet brought him on his knees and
a flail stroke broke his sword close by the hilt. At the fall of their
leader his comrades turned and fled through the hedge, but the gallant
fellow, wounded and bleeding, still showed fight, and would assuredly
have been knocked upon the head for his pains had I not picked him up
and thrown him into the waggon, where he had the good sense to lie quiet
until the skirmish was at an end. Of the dozen who broke through, not
more than four escaped, and several others lay dead or wounded upon the
other side of the hedge, impaled by scythe-blades or knocked off
their horses by stones. Altogether nine of the dragoons were slain
and fourteen wounded, while we retained seven unscathed prisoners, ten
horses fit for service, and a score or so