I know not
how you fared, gentlemen, but, with me, the sight of twenty such
vagabonds would have been a joyous spectacle; we would have tossed that
Captain Borroughcliffe and his recruits on the point of our bayonets, as
the devil would pitch----"
"Come, come, Manual," said Griffith, a little angrily, "you constantly
forget our situation and our errand; can you lead your men hither
without discovery, before the day dawns?"
"I want but the shortest half-hour that a bad watch ever traveled over
to do it in."
"Then follow, and I will appoint a place of secret rendezvous," rejoined
Griffith; "Mr. Gray can learn our situation at the same time."
The Pilot was seen to beckon, through the gloom of the night, for his
companions to come forward; when they proceeded, with cautious steps, in
quest of the desired shelter. A short search brought them in contact
with a part of the ruinous walls, which spread over a large surface, and
which, in places, reared their black fragments against the sky, casting
a deeper obscurity across the secret recesses of the wood.
"This will do," said Griffith, when they had skirted for some distance
the outline of the crumbling fabric; "bring up your men to this point,
where I will meet you, and conduct them to some more secret place, for
which I shall search during your absence."
"A perfect paradise, after the cable-tiers of the Ariel!" exclaimed
Manual; "I doubt not but a good spot might be selected among these trees
for a steady drill,--a thing my soul has pined after for six long
months.
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