Such INFORMATION to be given to
ME, or to the GOVERNOUR of His MAJESTY'S GAOL in Dorchester.
HOLDERNESSE.
* * * * *
'There--that's the bill,' he said; 'and a vastly fine piece it is, and
yet I wish that 'twas played with other actors. Now, in Moonfleet there
is none that know your hiding-place, and not a man, nor woman either,
that would tell if they knew it ten times over. But fifty pounds for
Elzevir, and twenty pounds for an empty pumpkin-top like thine, is a fair
round sum, and there are vagabonds about this countryside scurvy enough
to try to earn it. And some of these have set the Excisemen on _my_
track, with tales of how it is I that know where you lie hid, and bring
you meat and drink. So it is that I cannot stir abroad now, no, not even
to the church o' Sundays, without having some rogue lurking at my heels
to watch my movements. And that is why I chose such a night to come
hither, knowing these knaves like dry skins, but never thinking that the
wind would blow like this. I am come to tell Block that 'tis not safe for
me to be so much in Purbeck, and that I dare no longer bring food or what
not, or these man-hounds will scent you out. Your leg is sound again, and
'tis best to be flitting while you may, and there's the _Eperon d'Or,_
and Chauvelais to give you welcome on the other side.
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