There the party found Maguffin and the constable.
The colonel's servant had been much closer to the conflagration, but,
having seen no sign of any person there, nothing but a number of
startled horses, and the fire having taken possession of the sides of
the masked road, he had retired to the nearest house. He at once
enquired after the safety of Mr. Terry and the lawyer, and, finding that
they and all the rest of the party were safe, rode back at his utmost
speed to report. The constable, rejoiced at seeing his prisoners again,
was about to rearrest them, when Coristine and Sylvanus interposed, the
latter threatening to thrash the pipe-clay out of the pensioner's "old
putrified jints" if he touched the boy. The Crew meant petrified, but
the insult was no less offensive to the corporal on account of the
mistake. As a private individual in the Squire's kitchen, Mr. Rigby was
disposed to peace and unwilling to engage in a contest with big-boned
Sylvanus, but, as a constable on duty, he was prepared to face any
number of law-breakers and to fight them to the death. Drawing his
baton, he advanced, and only the commands of his legal superior, Mr.
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