Mind, before it
gets light, get the ladies up, and carry our bag of victuals and the
water skin over the crest. You may be sure that, as soon as it is
light, there will be many sharp eyes watching the hillside, all along
here."
The man who had come up with them had already wrapped himself in the
blanket he had brought with him, had crawled in among the bushes, and
was, as they could hear by his heavy breathing, already sound asleep.
After a time Oswald said that, as they had nothing more to settle, he
would try and get a few hours' rest. There was not the slightest fear
of surprise, and Roger and he were not long before they were both sound
asleep. Oswald woke two or three times and, at first sign of dawn,
shook Roger.
"You had better wake the ladies, in a few minutes, Roger, and get them
over the crest. Let their man, as soon as he has seen them, start at
once, keeping along behind the ridge, and warn him not to go down into
the valley until he is fully a mile beyond Parton. Tell him to look
carefully along the road, before he begins to descend, and to see that
it is clear. Even then, let him hide as much as may be, behind
brushwood and rock, until he gets down. When he has swum the river, let
him make a wide detour round Parton, so as to come down to the stables
without being noticed.
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