"Did he sell them?"
"Somebody sold them."
There was a scowl on Peel's face that somehow encouraged me, although I liked the look of the ruffian from the first.
"You 're an old friend of his lordship's, then?" said I.
"He has few friends in Rye or about Rye. If you 're going to do anything against Westport, I 'll get you a hundred men for nothing if there 's a chance of escape after the fight."
"Nine men will do me, if they 're the right stuff. You will have good cover to sleep under, plenty to eat and drink, and then I expect you to hold Brede House against all the men the Earl of Westport can bring forward."
"That 's an easy thing," said Peel, his eye lighting up. "And if worse comes to the worst I know a way out of the house that 's neither through door or window nor up a chimney. Where will I collect your men?"
"Assemble them on the road to Brede, quietly, about half a mile from Rye. Which direction is Brede from here?"
"It lies to the west, between six and seven miles away as the crow flies."
"Very well, collect your men as quickly as you can, and send word to me at the 'Anchor.' Tell your messenger to ask for The O'Ruddy."
Now I turned back to the tavern sorely troubled what I would do with Father Donovan. He was such a kindly man that he would be loath to shake hands with me at the door of the inn, as he had still two or three days to stop, so I felt sure he would insist on
