"Nay, then, Sergeant," shouted Jack in a loud voice, as, wrenching his right arm from the grasp of the soldier who held him, he pointed to Sir Humphrey Challoner, "detain that man! ... An I am the rebel Earl of Stretton, he was my accomplice, and has all the papers relating to our great conspiracy at this moment about his person ... the door!—the door!" he added excitedly, "take care! ... he’ll escape you! ... and he has papers on him now that would astonish the King." Instinctively the soldiers had rushed for both the doorways, and when Sir Humphrey, with a shrug of the shoulders, made a movement as if to go, the Sergeant barred the way and said,— "One moment, sir." "You would dare?" retorted Sir Humphrey, haughtily. "Are you such a consummate fool as not to see that that man is raving mad?" "Search him, Sergeant!" continued Bathurst, excitedly, "you’ll find the truth of what I say.... Search him ... her ladyship knows he was my accomplice.... Search him!—the loss of those papers’d cost you your stripes." The Sergeant was not a little perplexed. Already, the day before, the seizure of Sir Humphrey Challoner’s person had been attended with disastrous consequences for the beadle of Brassington, and now.... No doubt the Sergeant would never have ventured, but the near approach of the Duke of Cumberland’s army, and of his own superior officers, gave the worthy soldier a certain amount of confidence. He had full rights and powers of search, and had been sent to this part of the country to hunt for rebels. He had been tricked and hoodwinked more often than he cared to remember, and he knew that his superior officers would never blame him for following up a clue, even if thereby he was somewhat overstepping his powers. "The papers," continued Bathurst, "the papers which’ll prove his guilt ... the papers! or he’ll destroy them." The Sergeant gave a last look at his prisoner. He seemed secure enough guarded by three men, who were even now strapping his hands behind his back. The accusation therefore could be no trick to save his own skin, and who knows? if the Earl of Stretton was a rebel lord, then why not the Squire of Hartington? "Seize him, and search him!" commanded the Sergeant, "in the name of the King!" "Your pardon, sir," he added deferentially, "but the Duke of Cumberland is within earshot almost, and I should be cashiered if I neglected my duty." "This is an outrage!" cried Sir Humphrey, who had become purple with rage. "It’s doing your Honour no harm! and if I’ve done wrong no doubt I shall be punished. Search him, my men!" It was Sir Humphrey’s turn now to be helpless in the hands of the soldiers. He knew quite well that the Sergeant was within his duty and would certainly not get punished for this. Worse outrages than this attempt on his august person had been committed in the Midlands on important personages, on women and even children, during this terrible campaign against fugitive rebels.