To these, at Boisrueil's
suggestion, were added three doors which we forced from their
hinges in the house, and behind the whole, to cover our retreat
the better, we tethered six sumpter horses in two lines.
It remained only to unbar the rear gate and see that it opened
easily. This being done, as we had done all the rest, stealthily
and in darkness, and by men who dared not speak above a whisper,
I gave the word to hang the male prisoner and gag and bind the
woman. Colet undertook these duties, and with a grim humour of
his own hung the rascally host on the threshold where the
brigands must run against him when they entered. Then I directed
every man to saddle and bridle his nag and stand by it, and so we
waited with what patience we might for the DENOUEMENT.
It seemed very long in coming, yet when it did, what with the
restless movements of the horses and the melancholy murmur of the
stream, it well-nigh took us by surprise. It was Boisrueil who
touched my sleeve and made me aware of a low trampling on the
road outside, a sound that had scarcely become clearly audible
before it ceased.
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