n its fall.'

Decimus Saxon's only reply to this eulogy was one of those groans which
were supposed, among the zealots, to be the symbol of intense inner
conflict and emotion. So austere and holy was his expression, so solemn
his demeanour, and so frequent the upturnings of his eyes, clasping
of his hands, and other signs which marked the extreme sectary, that
I could not but marvel at the depths and completeness of the hypocrisy
which had cast so complete a cloak over his rapacious self. For very
mischief's sake I could not refrain from reminding him that there was
one at least who valued his professions at their real value.

'Have you told the worthy minister,' said I, 'of your captivity amongst
the Mussulmans, and of the noble way in which you did uphold the
Christian faith at Stamboul?'

'Nay,' cried our companion, 'I would fain hear the tale. I marvel much
that one so faithful and unbending as thyself was ever let loose by the
unclean and bloodthirsty followers of Mahomet.'

'It does not become me to tell the tale,' Saxon answered with great
presence of mind, casting at the same time a most venomous sidelong
glance at me. 'It is for my comrades in misfortune and not for me to
describe what I endured for the faith. I have little doubt, Master
Pettigrue, that you would have done as much had you been there. The town
of Taunton lies very quiet beneath us, and there are few lights for so
early an hour, seeing that it has not yet gone ten. It is clear that
Monmouth's forces have not reached it yet, else had there been some show
of camp-fires in the valley; for though it is warm enough to lie out in
the open, the men must have fires to cook their victual.'

'The army could scarce have come so far,' said the pastor. 'They have,
I hear, been much delayed by the want of arms and by the need of
discipline. Bethink ye, it was on the eleventh day of the month that
Monmouth landed at Lyme, and it is now but the night of the fourteenth.
There was much to be done in the time.'

'Four whole days!' growled the old soldier. 'Yet I expected no better,
seeing that they have, so far as I can hear, no tried soldiers amongst
them. By my sword, Tilly or Wallenstein would not have taken four days
to come from Lyme to Taunton, though all James Stuart's cavalry barred
the way. Great enterprises are not pushed through in this halting
fashion. The blow should be sharp and sudden. But tell me, worthy sir,
all that you know about the matter