On nearing the top of the hill, they came upon a number of rough stones. "We cannot do better than stop here," Oswald said. "It will be bare on the top of the hill. Now, Roger, help me to pile a few of these stones together, so as to make a sort of shelter." They set to work at once, Roger's strength enabling him to lift stones that ordinary men could scarcely have moved. In a quarter of an hour a little inclosure, six feet long by four wide and three high, had been constructed. An armful of dry heather was then pulled up, and laid on the ground. "There, girls, I think you will be able to manage to keep yourselves warm, by lying close together." "What are you going to do, Oswald?" "We shall be all right; and we can, if we like, make another shelter; and, if we feel cold, can walk about to warm ourselves. Now, Roger, get half a dozen sticks and lay across the top." While Roger was away getting the sticks, Oswald helped the girls over the wall, for no entrance had been left. "Now, Janet, give me those two wet smocks; I see that you have brought them with you." "What do you want them for, Oswald?" "I want them for the roof, Janet. It is beginning to freeze hard, and it is of no use having walls, if you have not a roof." "Won't you take my cloak, instead?" "Certainly not, Janet, you will want your cloak for a covering. Don't be silly, but hand them over." By this time, Roger had returned with the sticks. They were laid across the top, and the girls' smocks spread over them. "Now, go to sleep," Oswald said; "we must be on foot, an hour before dawn." Oswald then started down the hill for Parton. When he got within a mile of the town, he could see lights moving about on the road; and guessed that the Bairds had got torches, and were making sure that the fugitives had not hidden themselves anywhere close to the road; for they must have felt certain that they could not have reached the town, before being overtaken. When the lights had gone along the road, he descended to the river, took off his doublet and shirt, as before, and swam over; crossed the road, and was not long in finding the trees that marked the spot where he was to turn off to the farmhouse. He made his way to the stable, raised the latch, and entered. A lamp was burning, and the two men sitting and talking together. They leapt up, with an exclamation of pleasure, as Oswald entered. "We were afraid that something might have gone wrong; for, as I was waiting for you in the road, I heard a body of horsemen coming along, and hid behind the trees. As they went by, one of them said, 'We must have passed them long ago, if they came by this road. They had not more than a quarter of an hour's start.' "I heard no more, but it suggested that, maybe, you had managed to escape with the ladies, and that the Bairds were in pursuit of you."