Robert Munson, with design, threw himself down upon the mattress outside the carefully locked door of the chamber, from which he had helped his prisoners to escape. And being very much fatigued, he fell asleep, and slept long and late. The first persons up in the house were the farmer's daughter Kitty, and her old maiden aunt Molly. They came down from their attic chambers and walked on tiptoes past the sleeping Munson, so as not to wake him. They went down stairs and had breakfast got ready, but had to wait very long before either the farmer or the young man appeared. When they did come down, however, and apologized for their tardiness, the women inquired for the other guests, and were told that they must not be disturbed. The day passed slowly. It was late in the afternoon before old Purley awoke and finding the room quite dark, and feeling himself still very drowsy, he merely turned over and went to sleep again. And still overpowered by the combined action of the laudanum and the beer-opium and hops, he slept on until a very late hour of the night, when at length he awoke; but perceiving that all was quite dark and still, he lay quietly in bed, thinking this was about the longest night he had ever spent in his life. At last he got up, and opened the blinds to see if it was near day. And perceiving by a faint light streak along the horizon that the morning was at hand, he opened the other blinds, and began to dress himself as well as he could in the semi-darkness. By the time he had got on all his clothes, the day was a little lighter, and he went into the passage to see after the safety of his prisoner. He found young Munson stretched upon the mattress immediately before the door. "Quite correct," he thought; but he resolved to go up to the door to make a closer examination. First he saw that the key had been taken out of the lock. "All right," he said to himself. "Munson has obeyed orders, and put the key in his pocket." And then still farther to assure himself of the safety of his charge, he bent over the sleeping form of Munson and tried the lock, and found it fast. "Quite correct! Nothing has been neglected. He is a careful officer, and shall be well reported at head-quarters," he muttered, with much satisfaction. But to reach the lock at all, he had been obliged to bend so far over the sleeping body, that now, in trying to recover his perpendicular, he lost his balance, and fell heavily, nearly crushing and quite waking Munson, who, in struggling to throw off the burden, recognized old Purley, but pretending to mistake him for Mr. Berners, grappled him by the throat, exclaiming: "No you don't you villain! You don't get her out of this room except over my dead body!" And he shook him furiously. "It's me--me--me, Bob! Do-do-don't choke me to death!" gasped old Purley, as he struggled and freed his throat for an instant from the grasp of Robert's hands.