By the time George and I were in the coach, the drivers were on the box, but before we started one of them lifted the curtain and said:-- "I hear them moving in the house." "Make the more haste," I answered.
"Shan't we stay for a fight, sir ?" asked the driver, evidently disappointed.
"We'll have it later on," said George, and the next moment the coach was turned and we were on our homeward road.
When we reached the Oxford Road, the horses started at a smart gallop, and we began to hope that we had not been discovered by the inmates of Merlin House.

But soon we heard horses galloping behind us.

After a consultation, George and I concluded to stop the coach.

Frances and Betty were much alarmed, and begged us to try to escape by whipping the horses.
But I knew that our pursuers, being on horseback, would soon overtake us, and I was convinced that nothing could be gained by attempting flight.

I have seen a small dog stop a larger one by waiting for it.
So we waited, and when our pursuers, a half score of men on horseback, came up to us, we met them with a fusillade of powder and shot, which persuaded them to allow us to go our way and evidently made them content to go theirs, for we saw nothing more of them.
On the way to London, Frances told us briefly the story of the day.