"He must have taken us for highwaymen, for he thrust his head out of the door and fired a pistol at Crofts, who was nearest the coach." "Yes," said Crofts.

"And he was about to fire again, point blank at my head, when I drew my sword and quieted him.

Matters have come to a pretty pass when gentlemen can't walk out on the public road without becoming a target for every frightened fool that travels in a coach.

I'll learn who this fellow is, and will see that he becomes acquainted with the interior of Newgate or dangles to a rope on Tyburn." "Shall we declare the wager off ?" asked Wentworth, turning to Churchill and Hamilton.
"By all means," answered Churchill.
All being willing to return, they started back to London, Wentworth, Berkeley, and Crofts falling behind.

The story they had told was not convincing, but when Hamilton expressed his doubts to Churchill and intimated his belief that a robbery, if not a murder, had been committed, Churchill answered cautiously:-- "Perhaps you are right, but the less we know or think or say about this affair, the better it will be for you and me.