"Now, Sir Richard," he said, closing the door; "you will see that we have two windows in this room facing the orchard, and two in the room similar to this on the opposite side of the hall. The back of the house we have barricaded; fastened up all the windows, put up all the shutters, and only left a little look-out as it were, where some one can be placed to give timely information if the enemy approaches on that side, which I do not believe to be likely. Our precautions, however, will give us time to prepare, in case the attack should take place there. Now that you are with us, we have nine men in all, including my son Simon, and we have plenty of arms and ammunition. I propose to place two men at each window, and to station one at the little look-out at the back, to insure us from attack on that side, and have in each room a negro on whom we can depend, to hand us fresh arms and ammunition." He entered into a good many more details, showing the means of communication from room to room, in case some advantage should be gained at any particular point, and seemed altogether to have a very tolerable notion of defending his premises against a superior body of assailants. He was very minute in his details, however, and I wished to heaven he would bring his long statements to an end; for, although I was by no means insensible to the necessity of preparation and forethought, I was thinking of Bessy Davenport all the time, and paid, I am afraid, little attention to various arrangements of which he thought a great deal, but which, to a man accustomed to such things, were mere matters of child's play. "Now, Sir Richard," he said, in conclusion, "such are my arrangements. Have you any suggestions to make? I shall defer of course to your military knowledge and experience." I was quite sure he would defer with very great unwillingness, and that his plans must be touched with considerable delicacy. I therefore replied,-- "Your arrangements seem to me to be admirable, Doctor Blunt; and I do not see anything that requires alteration, unless, indeed, you should judge that it would be better to defend the floor above this. You have here very stout shutters and bars. You could place mattresses across the lower part of the windows, upstairs, so as to leave nothing but the heads of your defenders exposed. You are well aware, I know, that an aim upwards, by inexperienced marksmen, is never so certain as an aim down, or on a level. They are always sure to fire either too high or too low; and even if they were to get into the house, we should have the opportunity of firing upon them down the stairs, while we were pretty nearly under cover." "Why, Sir Richard," he said, "I think myself, that, considering----" I saw he was getting up objections in his mind to any other plan than his own; but, luckily, he was given further time for reflection by the entrance of Billy Byles, bringing Zed with him.