"
"If what Maister Nash has seen be as he thinks," added the Squire, "it's
as weel we laid nae han' on him, for it would just hae preceepitated
metters, and hae brocht the haill o' thae Lake Settlement deevils doon
upon us. D'ye think Rawdon's gaun to Collingwood, Nash?"
"Not a bit of it. I believe he came past here, openly and dressed as he
was, for three reasons. First, he wants to prove an alibi for himself,
whatever happens. Second, he wanted to see how we are guarded, and by
that loud whistling has informed his confederates not far off that it is
useless to try the house from the front. Thirdly, he has circled round
to take command of the villains that fired on me out of the waggon we
couldn't find."
"What's to be done then?" asked the Squire and the lawyer in a breath.
"We must watch the means of access from the left to the right. You see,
there are bushes, young willows and alders, all along the bank of the
creek, behind which they can steal towards that ferny hollow under the
birches, and, from thence, either make for the bit of bush Mr. Terry is
guarding, or creep behind the scattered boulders towards the fence.
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