306 A JACOBITE EXILE

but we have slept out in a deal colder weather than this.
However, 1 fancy he will go on, it is early for a man to
finish a journey. If he does, we must follow him and keep
him in sight if possible.”

Two hours later they saw from their hiding-place Nichol-
son ride out from the lane. He turned his horse’s head in
their direction.

“That is good,” Charlie said. “If he is bound for
London we shall be able to get into his company somehow;
but if he had gone up to some quiet place north, we might
have had a lot of difficulty in getting acquainted with him.”

As soon as the man had ridden past they leapt to their
feet, and at a run kept along the hedge. He had started
at a brisk trot, but when, a quarter of a mile on, they
reached a gate, and looked up the road after him, they saw
to their satisfaction that the horse had already fallen into
a walk.

“He does not mean to go far from Barnet,” Charlie ex-
claimed. “If he had been bound farther he would have
kept on at a trot. We will keep on behind the hedges as
long aswe can. If he were to look back and see us always
behind him he might become suspicious.”

They had no difficulty in keeping up with the horseman.
Sometimes when they looked out he was a considerable
distance ahead, having quickened his pace; but he never
kept that up long, and by brisk running, and dashing reck-
lessly through the hedges running at right angles to that
they were following, they soon came up to him again.
Once he had gone so far ahead that they took to the road,
and followed it until he again slackened his speed; they
thus kept him in sight till they neared Barnet.

“We can take to the road now,” Harry said. “Even if
he should look round he will think nothing of seeing two
men behind him, we might have turned into it from some
by-lane. At any rate we must chance it. We must find
where he puts up for the night.”