"Any other guests to-night, landlord?" Rosmore asked as he passed into the inn. "No, sir, and not much chance of them. They're having a sort of feast in the village yonder--dancing and such-like; and what business there is 'The Blue Boar' will get--unless, mind you, a pair o' lovers is tempted to come up this way for the sake o' the walk." "How far is the village?" "Three-quarters of a mile by the road, half a mile by the path through the wood. But, bless you, sir, if the lovers were to come they'd get their refreshment out o' kisses and not trouble my ale." "What do you call this place?" "'The Jolly Farmers,' sir, and I'm called Tom Saunders, very much at your service." "A poor spot for an inn, surely?" said Rosmore. "There are better, and there are worse," was the answer. "We're in touch with the main road, and they are good enough to say that the entertainment is worth going a little out of the way for." "No doubt. We will judge for ourselves." "And, although I blush to mention it, folks have a kind of liking for Tom Saunders himself. It's often the landlord that makes the inn." If the landlord blushed, it made no appreciable difference to his rosy countenance, which grinned good-humouredly as he executed Lord Rosmore's orders. "Truly, it is good liquor," said Rosmore when he had sampled it. "Do you get good company to come out of their way to taste it?" "Ay, sir, at times, and a few soldiers lately. You and your two men here will be from the West, very like. I've heard of Sedgemoor fight. May one know the latest news?" "Who told you of Sedgemoor?" "I think it was the smith down in the village, or it might 'a been Boyce, the carpenter; anyway, it was somebody down yonder. They'd heard it from someone on the road." "Monmouth is taken," and Rosmore watched the landlord closely as he said it. "That'll be good news for King James," was the answer. "Would it be treason to say I'm sorry for them who've been foolish enough to take up arms?" "Too near it to be wise. Pity of that kind often leads a man to give help, and that's the worst kind of treason." "So I've heard say, but I never could understand the rights and wrongs of the law, nor, for that matter, the lawyers neither. I'd a lawyer here not many weeks back, and all his learning hadn't taught him to know good ale when he put his lips to it. What's the good of learning if it can't teach you that?" "Do you number him amongst your good company?" asked Rosmore. "I don't, but he'd reckon himself that way." "You'll be having other company before long asking you to find them hiding-places. The rebels are being hunted in every direction." "We're too far away," said the landlord. "Bless you, we're a sight o' miles from Bridgwater, and most o' these fellows ain't got horses to carry them. They won't trouble 'The Jolly Farmers,' sir." "And if they did?" "The bolts on the door are strong enough to keep them out."