Presently I became emboldened sufficiently to clear away the material that prevented an outlook through the hole in the woodwork of the box. But my task was unavailing, for it was night, and the darkness so intense that nothing could be distinguished. For quite half an hour the cart jolted over the sward, then the wheels struck the hard surface of a road, and the pace became quicker but more even. There were but two men with the cart, and their conversation was carried on in a series of short sentences spoken in the broadest Dorset dialect. Presently a low oath came from one of the men, and the cart was dragged off the roadway and hidden in a hollow, or such I thought it to be. Wondering at the cause of this, I heard the sound of horse’s hoofs coming nearer and nearer; then, with a deafening clatter on the stony road, the animal passed by, and the sounds died away in the distance. "It be ’e, sure enow," muttered one of the men. "Yes, it be. Howsoever ’e bain’t seen we, so let’s get the cart back to t’ roaad." Who the mysterious "’e" might be I could not discover; one of the king’s officers, perchance, though in this lawless district they rarely ride alone. The task of getting the cart back to the roadway was longer than the men had reckoned upon, and when at length they succeeded, one remarked in a breathless voice that dawn was breaking. Soon the light was sufficient for me to see out of my spyhole. We were descending a steep hill, and on one side towered a lofty down, round which the white mists of morning still hung like fleecy clouds. "’Tis no use to go to Wareham," remarked one of the men. "We’d be stopped, sure as faate." "That’s so," replied the other. "There’s but one thing to do." "What’s that?" "Leave the stuff at Carfe and take caart home." "Where?" "Where! Why, in the castle, ye dolt!" Soon the cart was being driven through a village street. I could see the houses distinctly. They were all built of stone, and most of them were roofed with stone as well. This, then, was Corfe, or Carfe, as the inhabitants call it. Here a thought occurred to me to spring from my hiding place and make a dash for freedom, but the weight of the tarpaulin, which was securely lashed down, prevented me; so I was perforce obliged to remain, though firmly resolved to free myself at the first favourable opportunity. The cart proceeded on its way, and passed through a wide marketplace in the centre of which stood a cross. Then it rumbled over a stone bridge and entered the courtyard of the castle. Corfe Castle was well known by reason of its stubborn defence against the malignants during the Great Rebellion, Lady Banks having all but successfully withstood a lengthy siege when rank treachery did its fell work.