"To the stable."
As we slipped along to the corner a man stepped out before us.
"Don't shoot," he said; "it's me,--Broderick. Tell Mother Borton I
wouldn't have done it for anybody but her."
"I'm obliged to you just the same," I said. "And here's a bit of drink
money. Now, where are my men?"
"Don't know. In the lockup, I reckon."
"How is that?"
"Why, you see, Meeker tells the fellows here he has a warrant for you,--
that you're the gang of burglars that's wanted for the Parrott murder.
And he had to show the constable and the landlord and some others the
warrant, too."
"How many were hurt?"
"Six or seven. Two of your fellows looked pretty bad when they was
carried out."
We turned down a by-street, but as soon as the guard had disappeared we
retraced our steps and hastened to the Thatcher stables.
The rain was whipped into our faces as we bent against the wind, and
the whish and roar of the gale among the trees, and the rattle of loose
boards and tins, as they were tossed and shaken behind the houses, gave
a melancholy accompaniment to our hasty march.
"Hist!" said Fitzhugh in my ear. "Is that some one following us?"
I drew him into a corner, and peered back into the darkness.
"I can see no one."
"I thought I heard a man running."
"Wait a minute. If there is any one after us he must lose us right
here."
We listened in silence. Only the plash of water and the voice of the
storm came to our ears.
"Well, if they are looking for us they have gone the other way.
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