amount of pleasure at the news. He thought it certain that, if his
father escaped, he would have to leave the country, and that he
would, in that case, take him as companion in his flight. If Mr.
Jervoise and Harry also left the country, it would be vastly more
pleasant for both his father and himself. Where they would go to,
or what they would do, he had no idea, but it seemed to him that
exile among strangers would be bearable, if he had his friend with
him. It would not last many years, for surely the often talked-of
landing could not be very much longer delayed; then they would
return, share in the triumph of the Stuart cause, and resume their
life at Lynnwood, and reckon with those who had brought this foul
charge against them.

That the Jacobite cause could fail to triumph was a contingency to
which Charlie did not give even a thought. He had been taught that
it was a just and holy cause. All his school friends, as well as
the gentlemen who visited his father, were firm adherents of it,
and he believed that the same sentiments must everywhere prevail.
There was, then, nothing but the troops of William to reckon with,
and these could hardly oppose a rising of the English people,
backed by aid from France.

It was not until after dark that the messenger returned.

"Master Harry bade me tell you, sir, that a gipsy boy he had never
seen before has brought him a little note from his father. He will
not return at present, but, if Mr. Harry can manage to slip away
unnoticed in the afternoon, tomorrow, he is to come here. He is not
to come direct, but to make a circuit, lest he should be watched
and followed, and it may be that the master will meet him here."