At length the fated dwelling became visible, and a short
consultation was held in a sheltered place, between the Captain and the
two parties who seemed so eager for its destruction. Their fire-arms
were now loaded, and their bayonets and short pikes, the latter shod and
pointed with iron, were also got ready. The live coal which was brought
in the small pot had become extinguished; but to remedy this, two or
three persons from a remote part of the county entered a cabin on the
wayside, and, under pretence of lighting their own and their comrades'
pipes, procured a coal of fire, for so they called a lighted turf. From
the time we left the chapel until this moment a profound silence had
been maintained, a circumstance which, when I considered the number of
persons present, and the mysterious and dreaded object of their journey,
had a most appalling effect upon my spirits.
At length we arrived within fifty perches of the house, walking in a
compact body, and with as little noise as possible; but it seemed as
if the very elements had conspired to frustrate our design, for on
advancing within the shade of the farm-hedge, two or three persons found
themselves up to the middle in water, and on stooping to ascertain more
accurately the state of the place, we could see nothing but one immense
sheet of it--spread like a lake over the meadows which surrounded the
spot we wished to reach.
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