Page 220 - A Jacobite Exile

while some twenty of the peasants had fallen.

Reduced now to twelve men and the captain, they thought only of pushing
forward, avoiding all villages, and only occasionally visiting detached

houses for the sake of obtaining flour. The country became more thinly
populated as they went on, and there was a deep feeling of satisfaction
when, at length, their leader pointed to a belt of trees in the distance, and

said:

"That is the beginning of the forest. A few miles farther, and we shall be
well within it."

By nightfall they felt, for the first time since they had set out on their
journey, that they could sleep in safety. A huge fire was lit, for the nights

were now becoming very cold, and snow had fallen occasionally for the last
four or five days, and in the open country was lying some inches deep. The
next day they journeyed a few miles farther, and then chose a spot for the

erection of a hut. It was close to a stream, and the men at once set to work,
with axes, to fell trees and clear a space.

It was agreed that the captain and two of the men, of the most pacific
demeanour, should go to the nearest town, some forty miles away, to lay in

stores. They were away five days, and then returned with the welcome
news that a cart, laden with flour and a couple of barrels of spirits, was on a

country track through the forest a mile and a half away.

"How did you manage, captain?" Charlie asked.

"We went to the house of a well-to-do peasant, about a mile from the

borders of the wood. I told him frankly that we belonged to a band who
were going to winter in the forest, that we would do him no harm if he
would give us his aid, but that if he refused he would soon have his place

burnt over his head. As we said we were ready to pay a fair sum for the hire
of his cart, he did not hesitate a moment about making the choice. The

other two remained at his cottage, so as to keep his family as hostages for
his good faith, and I went with him to the town, where we bought six sacks