Suddenly, just where the road emerged from a wood on to a common, three men dashed out, and fell upon them.

The preachers roared lustily for mercy, and invoked the vengeance of the Parliament upon those who ventured to interfere with them.
"We are charged," one said, "with a mission to the Convention at Edinburgh, and it is as much as your heads are worth to interfere with us." "Natheless," Harry said, "we must even risk our heads.

You must follow us into the wood, or we shall be under the necessity of 'blowing out your brains.'" Much crestfallen, the preachers followed their captors into the wood.
There they were despoiled of their hats and doublets, tied securely by cords, gagged, and placed, in spite of their remonstrances and struggles, in three huge sacks.
At midnight the Annette was lying alongside the wharf at Ayton, when a cart drove up.

Three men alighted from it, and one hailed the captain, who was standing on deck.
"I have brought the three parcels thou wottest of," he said.

"They will need each two strong men to carry them on board." The captain, with two sailors, ascended to the quay.
"What have we here ?" said one of the sailors; "there is some live creature in this sack." "It is a young calf," Harry said; "when you are well out to sea you can give it air." The men laughed, for having frequently had passengers to cross to the Continent, they shrewdly guessed at the truth; and the captain had already told them that the delay of a day would put some money into each of their pockets.