"No, that I hadn't! And a good thing I hadn't too! for if I'd a known
that lady had a been kept a prisoner here in my house, I'd a pitched her
jailers neck and heels out o' the windows, and then set the dogs on
'em!"
"But that would have been very unjust to them, and injurious to the lady
you wish to befriend. And especially it would have been the very
greatest injustice to the younger officer, who has been our partisan
from the first."
"Eh! what? One of them jailers your partisan?"
"Yes; let me explain," said Mr. Berners. And he commenced and detailed
all the circumstances of their acquaintance and relations with Robert
Munson.
"And so, out of gratitude for the kindness this lady showed him in his
childhood, he got himself put on this service o' purpose to watch his
opportunity of reskying her."
"Just so."
"Well, he's an honest fellow, that he is!" said the farmer, approvingly.
"Now, Mr. Nye, all you have to do, if you wish to help us, is just to
let us go free. When we are gone, keep the house quiet, and let the
elder officer sleep as long as possible, for the longer he sleeps the
farther we shall get away from pursuit."
"I'll lock him up and keep him prisoner for a month, if necessary."
"But it is not necessary. A day's start is all that we shall need, and
that, I think, you can secure to us, by simply letting the man sleep as
long as he will. And furthermore, I may ask you to be cautious and not
to betray our friend Robert Munson's agency in our escape."
"I'll protect Robert Munson with my life."
"A thousand thanks! And now, as we understand each other, let us go on
to my wife, who is anxiously waiting the issue of this interview," said
Lyon Berners, turning and leading the way towards the stables.
"Now, squire, you may rely upon me, and rest easy in your mind. You
sha'n't be followed in less than twenty-four hours," said the farmer, as
they went along.
"Again I thank you from my heart. And now I have something else to say
to you," began Lyon Berners Then he paused, as finding a real difficulty in saying what he wished;
for the truth is, that when Mr. Berners had called Mr. Nye aside for a
private interview, he had intended to offer him a heavy bribe to connive
at the escape of Sybil.
Now, however, he found the farmer not exactly the sort of man to affront
with the proffer of a bribe, or even scarcely of a reward; and yet he
was a poor man who evidently needed money, and would probably always
need it; for Farmer Nye, as has been shown in his championship of Sybil,
was a man of impetuous emotions, hasty judgments, and reckless actions,
and was always sure to be in troubles, social, domestic, and pecuniary.