She struck her seeming fellow-servant a smart rap with
the basting-ladle, and called out, shrewishly,--
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE RIVER AVON.]
"Now, then, go on with thy work; what art thou looking about for?"
The soldiers laughed as Charles sprang up with a sheepish aspect, and
they turned away without a thought that in this servant lad lay hidden
the prince they sought.
On September 13, ten days after the battle, Miss Lane and her groom
reached Abbotsleigh, where they took refuge at the house of Mr. Norton,
Colonel Lane's cousin. To the great regret of the fugitive, he learned
here that there was no vessel in the port of Bristol that would serve
his purpose of flight. He remained in the house for four days, under his
guise of a servant, but was given a chamber of his own, on pretence of
indisposition. He was just well of an ague, said his mistress. He was,
indeed, somewhat worn out with fatigue and anxiety, though of a
disposition that would not long let him endure hunger or loneliness.
In fact, on the very morning after his arrival he made an early
toilette, and went to the buttery-hatch for his breakfast. Here were
several servants, Pope, the butler, among them. Bread and butter seems
to have been the staple of the morning meal, though the butler made it
more palatable by a liberal addition of ale and sack.
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