“I doubt me,” the farmer said, looking at it, “that that horse was not honestly come by.  It suits not your condition.  It may well be,” he said, “the horse of some officer who was slain at Worcester, and which you have found roaming in the country.”

“It matters not,” Harry said, “where I got it; it is mine now, and may be yours if you like it, cheap.  As you say, its looks agree not with mine, and I desire not to be asked questions.  If you will give me that donkey I see there, and three pounds, you shall have him.”

The offer was a tempting one, but the farmer beat them down a pound before he agreed to it.  Then shifting their bundles to the donkey, they continued their way.  At the next village they purchased a cooking-pot and some old stuff for a tent.  Cutting some sticks, they encamped that night on some wild land hard by, having purchased provisions for their supper.  Very slowly they traveled south, attracting no attention as they passed.  They avoided all large towns, and purchased such things as they needed at villages, always camping out on commons and waste places.  They could hear no news of the king at any of their halting-places.  That he had not been taken was certain; also, that he had not reached France, or the news of his coming there would have been known.  It was generally supposed that he was in hiding somewhere in the south, hoping to find an opportunity to take ship to France.  Everywhere they heard of the active search which was being made for him, and how the houses of all suspected to be favorable to him were being searched.

Traveling only a few miles a day, and frequently halting for two or three days together, the party crossed the Thames above Reading, and journeyed west into Wiltshire.  So they went on until they reached the port of Charmouth, near Lime Regis.  Here, as in all the seaport towns, were many soldiers of the Parliament.  They did not enter the town, but encamped a short distance outside, Harry alone going in to gather the news.  He found that numerous rumors concerning the king were afloat.  It was asserted that he had been seen near Bristol, and failing to embark there, was supposed to be making his way east along the coast, in hopes of finding a ship.  The troops were loud in their expressions of confidence that in a few days, if not in a few hours, he would be in their hands, and that he would be brought to the scaffold, as his father had been.

Uneasy at the news, Harry wandered about the town, and at nightfall entered a small public house near the port.  Calling for some liquor, he sat down, and listened to the talk of the sailors.  Presently these left, and soon after they did so three other men entered.  One was dressed as a farmer, the other two as serving-men.  Harry thought that he noticed a glance of recognition pass between the farmer and the landlord, and as the latter placed some liquor and a candle on the table before the newcomers, Harry recognized in the farmer Colonel Wyndham, a Royalist with whom he was well acquainted.  He now looked more closely at the two serving-men, and recognized in them the king and Lord Wilmot.