After this I had to crawl like a badger in his earth, with my
back brushing against the roof, over many masses of broken
brickwork most rough to the palms of my hands. All of a sudden I
smelt a pleasant stable-smell. I heard the rattle of a halter
drawn across manger bars. I heard a horse paw upon the ground
quite close to me. A dim, but regular chink of light showed in
front of me, level with my head as crawled. Peering through it, I
saw that I was looking into a stable, almost level with the
floor; the passage had come to an end.
By getting my fingers into the crack through which I peered, I
found that I could swing round some half a dozen stones, which
were mortared together, so as to form a revolving door. It worked
with difficulty, as though no one had passed through by that way
for many years; but it worked for me, after a little hard
pushing. I scrambled through the narrow opening into a roomy old
stable, where some cart-horses peered at me with wonder, as I
rose to my feet. After getting out, I shut to my door behind me,
so firmly that I could not open it again; there must have been
some spring or catch which I could not set to work. Two steps
more took me out of the horses' stalls into the space behind,
where, on a mass of hay, lay a carter, fast asleep, with the
door-key in his hand. By his side lay a pitchfork. He was keeping
guard there, prepared to resist Monmouth's pillagers.
He slept so heavily that I was tempted to take the key from his
hand.
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