Of the Horseman who rode from the West

My father set to work forthwith preparing for our equipment, furnishing
Saxon out as well as myself on the most liberal scale, for he was
determined that the wealth of his age should be as devoted to the cause
as was the strength of his youth. These arrangements had to be carried
out with the most extreme caution, for there were many Prelatists in the
village, and in the present disturbed state of the public mind any
activity on the part of so well known a man would have at once attracted
attention. So carefully did the wary old soldier manage matters,
however, that we soon found ourselves in a position to start at an
hour's notice, without any of our neighbours being a whit the wiser.

His first move was to purchase through an agent two suitable horses at
Chichester fair, which were conveyed to the stables of a trusty Whig
farmer living near Portchester, who was ordered to keep them until they
were called for. Of these animals one was a mottled grey, of great
mettle and power, standing seventeen and a half hands high, and well up
to my weight, for in those days, my dears, I had not laid on flesh, and
weighed a little under sixteen stone for all my height and strength.
A critic might have said that Covenant, for so I named my steed, was a
trifle heavy about the head and neck, but I found him a trusty, willing
brute, with great power and endurance. Saxon, who when fully accoutred
could scarce have weighed more than twelve stone, had a light bay
Spanish jennet, of great speed and spirit. This mare he named Chloe,
'after a godly maiden of his acquaintance,' though, as my father
remarked, there was a somewhat ungodly and heathenish smack about the
appellation. These horses and their harness were bought and held ready
without my father appearing in the matter in any way.