"And is it far?" Merrylips asked as she rose stiffly to her feet. "Not far, I think," Rupert cheered her. "Not above two league, I am sure." Now two leagues may sound a very little distance, when the words are read by a snug fireside. But two leagues, when tramped through drizzling wet and mire, on tired feet, become a weary long journey, as Merrylips and Rupert found. It was sunset, if there had been a sun to set upon that damp and gloomy day, when they limped at last down the sticky road into Slynford. The first sound that greeted them, as they set foot in the village street, was a dirty little boy's shouting to his mate:-- "Haste ye, Herry Dautry! The sojers do be changing guard at the ford. Come look upon 'em for a brave show!" Then they knew that they had come too late. Here in Slynford, as at King's Slynton, was an outpost of the rebel army that barred the passage into the west. Perhaps if they had gone straight to the ford and asked to be let cross, they might have got leave, for they were very young and harmless-looking travellers. But Rupert and Merrylips were both too tired and hungry and discouraged to pluck up heart for such a bold undertaking. Moreover, after his sad experience in King's Slynton, Rupert was shy of getting within arm's reach of rebel soldiers. He might be robbed of what money was left him, he told Merrylips. So they agreed that they should do well to leave Slynford and try to cross the river farther north. There followed for the two children a week of wandering that would not have been easy even for grown men. All the time they were in terror,--more than they need have been, perhaps,--lest they fall into the hands of the cruel rebels. Indeed, the country through which they passed was swarming with soldiers and with camp followers of the Parliament. And Rupert and Merrylips were sure, and rather proud of the fact, that in dress and bearing they themselves looked so much like Cavaliers that they should instantly be known for such, if they let themselves be seen by their enemies. So they kept away from towns and villages, where they were likely to be stopped and questioned. For greater safety they travelled by night, and their food--coarse bread, and meat, and fresh cheese--they bought at lonely cottages. They slept in woods and thickets, where sometimes they found nuts and haws with which to piece out their meals. They dared not even ask too many questions about the roads that they should take, and so it happened often that they went astray. Still, they travelled northward, in the main, along the river Slyne, till one morning they met with a rebel patrol.