"More than that; 'twill be four come next Thursday. Now, drink this, and try to sleep once more, for you've been very ill." Obediently I did as I was told, and after a long sleep I awoke feeling considerably refreshed. "Art better, Master Markham?" asked my most attentive nurse. "Ay, mistress; but what is your name, and how came you to know mine?" "They of the Cornish fishing boat that brought you here told me about you," she replied, smiling. "And my name, an it please you, is Widdicombe." "How can I thank you for your kindness, Mistress Widdicombe? But tell me, how came I here?" Briefly she told me that the men of the _Emma Farleigh_ had brought me ashore, and, filled with compassion--for, she said, I bore a strong resemblance to her only son, who had been slain at Stratton fighting bravely for His Majesty--she had brought me to her house. Here a surgeon from Fort Charles, skilled in the treatment of gun-shot wounds, had probed and extracted Chaloner's bullet, and for nearly four weeks I lay unconscious. During that time either Mistress Widdicombe or her husband, who was a sergeant of foot under Sir Edmund Fortescue, had watched day and night at my bedside, and I undoubtedly owed my life to the generous devotion of this worthy Devonshire couple. Thanks to a healthy constitution, together with the fact that I had led a rigorous outdoor life, my wound healed rapidly, and before the autumn leaves had begun to fall I was able to get about. My intentions for the future were torn by various influences. My duty towards my home urged me to return to Ashley Castle, for even now the Roundheads might be hammering at its gates, though, thanks to my pistol-shot, I had little to fear from the renegade, Captain Chaloner, while my sense of duty towards my sovereign called me to rejoin the army in Cornwall. Then came the news of the second affair at Newbury, and that the King had retired into winter quarters at Oxford. "'Tis no use thinking to rejoin your comrades in Cornwall, Master Markham," remarked Sergeant Widdicombe one morning as he came from Fort Charles, where the work of strengthening that fortress was progressing rapidly. "And why not?" I asked anxiously, fearing that some disaster had overtaken the King's forces in the west. "Because the army is disbanded," he replied. "News has just arrived that the rebellion has been stamped out beyond the Tamar. Only a few fortresses are to be garrisoned, and the rest of the troops have been dismissed." I could not help feeling glad at this intelligence, as my mind could now be made up as to what course I ought to pursue, and I resolved to bid adieu to my kindly benefactors directly I was strong enough to undertake the journey home.