"Thou seest, Kit, the little one is near forspent, poor lamb!" said kindly Polly, and stroked Merrylips' tumbled hair. "Don't 'ee be afeard now, pretty!" she comforted. "'Tis no trouble ye'll be to my brother Kit. He is drawing two wain-loads of horse-litter to Ryeborough this night. He'll find space to stow ye in the wain, all snug and cosey, and in the morn ye'll be safe with your cousin Smith." "I ha' seen him in Ryeborough market-place," said Kit. "Smith! 'Tis a thick-set fellow, and serveth in my lord's own troop of carabineers." When Rupert and Merrylips heard this, they were filled with terror. But they had to look pleased. They dared not do anything else. If they were to say now that they did not wish to go to Ryeborough, that they had no kinsman named Smith, and that all of Rupert's story was a lie, they were sure that they should suffer some dreadful punishment. In sorry silence they took the penny and the gingerbread that kind Polly gave them. They shuffled out into the raw, chill twilight of the street. They found that already the great wains had rumbled up and were halted at the door. They saw no help for it, so they let themselves be lifted up by Brother Kit and the stout carters, and placed among the sheaves of straw beneath an old horse-blanket. "Have an eye to 'em, Kit Woolgar!" Polly called from the doorway, where she stood with a cloak wrapped about her. "And don't 'ee let 'em down till 'ee come to Ryeborough, else they'll perish by the way." And to Rupert and Merrylips she called:-- "Good speed to ye, Hal Smith, and little John! Your troubles all are ended now, dear hearts!" But Rupert and Merrylips, with their faces turned to the dreaded town of rebel Ryeborough, thought that in very truth their troubles were just beginning. CHAPTER XXVIII IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP While the wain jolted through the stiffening mire, Rupert and Merrylips whispered together. They agreed that at the first chance they would scramble down noiselessly from the wain and run away, before Kit Woolgar could stop them. But they would not make this brave dash just yet, for a great white moon was staring in the sky, and the road was running through open fields, where they might easily be seen and hunted down. "We will wait," said Rupert, "till the night weareth late and is dark, and the carters are sleepy and forget to watch us. No doubt, too, the road will lead presently among trees, where we may hide ourselves. Ay, we shall do wisely to wait." That would have been a very prudent course, but for one thing, on which Master Rupert had not counted. Late in the evening, when the moon was setting, and the time for escape seemed near at hand, they came to a crossway. There they were joined by three more wains, and guarding these wains, and ready to guard them, too, was a little squad of Roundhead troopers.