As suddenly as the interview had commenced, so suddenly did it
terminate; for, though Robin threw pieces of stick and fragments of
mortar into the aperture, to intimate that he continued there, no
answering signal was returned. The evening was drawing on, and persons
passed and repassed beneath the tree--some of them with hurried, some
with slower steps: at last the self-same page with whom he had jested
rushed forward in company with the sentinel, and Robin heard him say,-"I tell you, his Highness will wait no forms; he commanded you instantly
to come to him. It is impossible that a cat could fall from that window
without your seeing it, unless you were asleep on your post."
"I had no caution about the window, master; and, at all events,
nothing, I am sure, could pass from it, except a spirit," replied the
soldier.
Immediately after the guard passed for the purpose of replacing the
sentinel; and about half an hour afterwards, there was a bustle in the
courts, the tramping of brave steeds, and the rolling of
carriage-wheels; then the braying trumpet sounded "to horse!" and soon
the noise of much and stately pageantry was lost in the distance. Robin
Hays cared not to move until the palace was more at rest; but his
meditations were continually disturbed by the passers-by. Had he been
disposed to listen or pay any attention to those who came and went, he
could have heard and seen things, from which much that was bitter and
much that was sweet might have been gathered. He might have observed
that a plain coat or a simple hood changes not the nature of those who
wear it; yet, on the other hand, he would have noted that the plain coat
and simple hood preserve from outward vice, however the inward thoughts
may triumph. But the watchful lynx-eyed ranger was changed, sorely,
sadly changed; in four brief hours he had lived more than treble the
number of years. He patiently lingered, till the shades of evening
closed, to effect an escape, that had now become more easy, inasmuch as
the inmates of the palace had nearly all retired to their apartments.
Through the agency of the yew-tree, he arrived at the highest portion of
the wall, and looking over, perceived that a roof descended from the
large coping-stones on which he stood, in a slanting manner, and that
the building communicated by an arched covering to the palace: the
Thames was not distant from the base of the building more than sixty
yards, so that once down, his escape was certain. Watching the movements
of a sentry, posted at some little distance from the gate, he slid along
the roof, stretching himself at full length, and without any further
mishap crawled to the river's brink, plunged in, and arrived at the
Surrey-side of the silver Thames in perfect safety. He resolved to cross
the country to Bromley with as little delay as possible, inasmuch as he
had friends there who would hasten his journey;--and as concealment was
no longer needed, he thought that a good steed would be most valuable;
he therefore availed himself of one who was enjoying its evening meal
quietly among the Surrey hills; for the credit of his honesty, however,
it is fair to record, he noted the place, so that one of his agents
could restore the animal in the course of the following night. By this
manoeuvre, and urging its utmost speed, together with the assistance he
received at Bromley, Robin arrived at King's-ferry before the morning
was far advanced. He did not now, as on former occasions, cross the
Swale to Elmley or Harty, with a view to avoid observation, but threw
himself into the boat of Jabez Tippet, the ferryman, to whom, as it may
be supposed, he was well known.