With these broken words he assisted the robbers as well as he could, in
spite of their manacles, through the same part of the hedge from which
the three allies had sprung. They were already through the barrier,--
only the long legs of Ned Pepper lingered behind,--when at the far end of
the road, which was perfectly straight, a gentleman's carriage became
visible. A strong hand from the interior of the hedge, seizing Pepper,
dragged him through; and Clifford,--for the reader need not be told who
was the farmer, perceiving the approaching reinforcement, shouted at once
for flight. The robber who had guarded Nabbem, and who indeed was no
other than Old Bags, slow as he habitually was, lost not an instant in
providing for himself; before you could say "Laudamus," he was on the
other side of the hedge. The two men engaged with the police-officers
were not capable of an equal celerity; but Clifford, throwing himself
into the contest and engaging the policemen, gave the robbers the
opportunity of escape. They scrambled through the fence; the officers,
tough fellows and keen, clinging lustily to them, till one was felled by
Clifford, and the other, catching against a stump, was forced to
relinquish his hold; he then sprang back into the road and prepared for
Clifford, who now, however, occupied himself rather in fugitive than
warlike measures. Meanwhile, the moment the other rescuers had passed
the Rubicon of the hedge, their flight, and that of the gentlemen who had
passed before them, commenced. On this mystic side of the hedge was a
cross-road, striking at once through an intricate and wooded part of the
country, which allowed speedy and ample opportunities of dispersion.
Here a light cart, drawn by two swift horses in a tandem fashion, awaited
the fugitives. Long Ned and Augustus were stowed down at the bottom of
this vehicle; three fellows filed away at their irons, and a fourth, who
had hitherto remained inglorious with the cart, gave the lash--and he
gave it handsomely--to the coursers. Away rattled the equipage; and thus