I had arranged a loophole for myself, from which I could see the approach of the enemy.

The noise increased and came nearer, and at length thirty horsemen and more rushed at once upon the lawn.

You never saw such horrid wretches! Notwithstanding the severity of the season, they were most of them stripped to their shirts and trowsers, with silk handkerchiefs knotted about their heads, and all well armed with carbines, pistols, and cutlasses.

I, who am a soldier's daughter, and accustomed to see war from my infancy, was never so terrified in my life as by the savage appearance of these ruffians, their horses reeking with the speed at which they had ridden, and their furious exclamations of rage and disappointment when they saw themselves baulked of their prey.

They paused, however, when they saw the preparations made to receive them, and appeared to hold a moment's consultation among themselves.