One of the
horses was carrying double, and Roger and Oswald were both heavier than
any of the moss troopers.
"We shall have a fight for it, Roger."
"That is just what I was thinking, master. Well, there are three of us;
and, as there are only six of them, we ought not to have much trouble.
John will be a match for one. Methinks you and I can each make short
work of a man when they first come up; and with but three of them
against two, it will be mere child's play."
The road was a narrow one, and little used; and, when they came to the
foot of a sharp rise, Oswald called to those ahead to stop.
"Jump down, Jessie, and mount behind Janet, and ride on ahead. We will
soon get rid of these fellows. Be quick!"
The moss troopers were now but seventy or eighty yards behind.
"I shall fight on foot," Roger said, as he leapt off his horse. "I want
both hands, for this staff."
Turning his horse, and bidding John to do the same, Oswald reined back
his animal three or four lengths; and when the Bairds' party were
within twenty yards, touched it with his spur and dashed at them,
meeting them just abreast of Roger. The first man he met thrust at him
with his spear, but Oswald parried with his sword, and with a
back-handed blow smote the man just under the chin, and he fell with a
crash from his horse.
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