204 A JACOBITE EXILE

as they went on, and there was a deep feeling of satisfac-
tion 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 re-
turned 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 hesi-
tate a moment about making the choice. The other two
remained at his cottage, so as to keep his family as hos-
tages for his good faith, and I went with him to the town,
where we bought six sacks of good flour and the two barrels
of spirits. We got a few other things—cooking pots and
horns, and a lot of coarse blankets, and a thick sheep-skin
coat for each man; they are all in the car, I see that you