.'

'Nay, I must wait for granny,' she answered, with the tears running down
her cheeks.

'But how if I take you to granny, little one,' said I. 'We cannot
leave you here. 'I held out my arms, and the child sprang into them and
nestled up against my bosom, sobbing as though her heart would break.
'Take me away,' she cried; 'I'se frightened.'

I soothed the little trembling thing as best I might, and bore her off
with me upon my shoulder. The scythesmen had passed the handles of their
long weapons through the sleeves of their jerkins in such a way as to
form a couch or litter, upon which poor Reuben was laid. A slight dash
of colour had come back to his cheeks in answer to some cordial given
him by the chirurgeon, and he nodded and smiled at Saxon. Thus, pacing
slowly, we returned to Bridgewater, where Reuben was carried to our
quarters, and I bore the little maid of the marshes to kind townsfolk,
who promised to restore her to her home when the troubles were over.

Chapter XXXII. Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor

However pressing our own private griefs and needs, we had little time
now to dwell upon them, for the moment was at hand which was to decide
for the time not only our own fates, but that of the Protestant cause
in England. None of us made light of the danger. Nothing less than a
miracle could preserve us from defeat, and most of us were of opinion
that the days of the miracles were past. Others, however, thought
otherwise. I believe that many of our Puritans, had they seen the
heavens open that night, and the armies of the Seraphim and the Cherubim
descending to our aid, would have looked upon it as by no means a
wonderful or unexpected occurrence.

The whole town was loud with the preaching. Every troop or company had
its own chosen orator, and sometimes more than one, who held forth
and expounded. From barrels, from waggons, from windows, and even from
housetops, they addressed the crowds beneath; nor was their eloquence
in vain. Hoarse, fierce shouts rose up from the streets, with broken
prayers and ejaculations. Men were drunk with religion as with wine.
Their faces were flushed, their speech thick, their gestures wild. Sir
Stephen and Saxon smiled at each other as they watched them, for they
knew, as old soldiers, that of all causes which make a man valiant in
deed and careless of life, this religious fit is the strongest and the
most enduring.

In the evening I found time to look in upon my wounded