"'Sirs, what d'ye take me for?' the Knight exclaimed-- 'A thief,' replied the Runners, with a curse; 'And now, sir, let us search you, and be damn'd'-- And then they searched his pockets, fobs, and purse, But, 'stead of pistol dire, and death-like crape, A pocket-handkerchief they cast their eye on, Containing frogs and toads of various shape, Dock, daisy, nettletop, and dandelion, To entertain, with great propriety, The members of his sage Society; Yet would not alter they their strong belief That this their pris'ner was a thief. "'Sirs, I'm no highwayman,' exclaimed the Knight-- 'No--there,' rejoined the Runners, 'you are right-- A footpad only. Yes, we know your trade-- Yes, you're a pretty babe of grace; We want no proofs, old codger, but your face; So come along with us, old blade.' * * * * * "Sir Joseph told them that a neighb'ring Squire Should answer for it that he was no thief; On which they plumply damn'd him for a liar, And said such stories should not save his beef; And, if they understood their trade, His _mittimus_ should soon be made; And forty pounds be theirs, a pretty sum, For sending such a rogue to Kingdom Come." To the Squire, however, they took that distinguished member of Society, who, of course, identified him at once, and bade them beg his pardon. This they did--according to "Peter Pindar"--with a resolution in future not to judge of people by their looks! XVI Just before reaching the roadside hamlet of Longford, fifteen miles from Hyde Park Corner, a lane leads on the right hand to Harmondsworth, a short mile distant across the wide flat cabbage and potato fields. "Harm'sworth," as the rustics call it, is mentioned in Domesday Book, under the name of "Hermondesworde;" that is to say, Hermonde's sworth or sward, the pasture-land of some forgotten Hermonde. [Sidenote: _THE "GOTHIC BARN"_] Few ever turn aside from the dusty high-road to visit this old-fashioned village, rich in old timber-framed houses, and possessing an ancient tithe-barn which, standing next the church, was once part of an obscure Priory established here. The "Gothic Barn" is built precisely on ecclesiastical lines, with nave and aisles, and is the largest of the tithe-barns now remaining in England, being 191 feet in length and 38 feet, in breadth. The walls are built of a rough kind of conglomerate found in the locality, and called "pudding-stone," the flints and pebbles distributed through the rock resembling to a lively imagination the currants and raisins in plum-puddings. The interior of the barn is a vast mass of oak columns and open roofing. [Illustration: THE "GOTHIC BARN," HARMONDSWORTH.] A relic of old country life may be seen hanging in this barn, in the shape of a flail, now occasionally used for threshing out beans.