we cannot tell when the twenty miles to gloucester were thrown behind them, but we know that the whole forty miles of going and coming were accomplished by sunrise the next morning. for the deposition tells us that roger skreene had become very impatient at the absence of his passengers,at least, so he swears to the council; and he began to think, just after the sun was up, that, as they had not returned, they must have got into a revel at the tavern, and forgotten themselves; which careless demeanor of theirs made him think of recrossing the river and of going ashore to beat them up; when, lo! all of a sudden, he spied a boat coming round the point within which he lay. and here arises a pleasant little dramatic scene, of some interest to our story. mrs. talbot had been up at the dawn, and watched upon the deck, straining her sight, until she could see no more for tears; and at length, unable to endure her emotion longer, had withdrawn to the cabin. presently skreene came hurrying down to tell her that the boat was coming,and, what surprised him, there were _four_ persons in it. who is this fourth man? he asked her,with his habitual simplicity, and how are we to get him back to the shore again?a very natural question for roger to ask, after all that had passed in his presence! mrs. talbot sprang to her feet,her eyes sparkling, as she exclaimed, with a cheery voice, oh, his cousin has come!and immediately ran upon the deck to await the approaching party. there were pleasant smiling faces all around, as the four men came over the sloops side; and although the testimony is silent as to the fact, there might have been some little kissing on the occasion. the new-comer was in a rough dress, and had the exterior of a servant; and our skipper says in his testimony, that mrs. talbot spoke to him in the irish language: very volubly, i have no doubt, and that much was said that was never translated. when they came to a pause in this conversation, she told skreene, by way of interpretation, he need not be uneasy about the strangers going on shore, nor delay any longer, as this person had made up his mind to go with them to maryland. so the boat was made fast, the anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and the little sloop bent to the breeze and kissed the wave, as she rounded the headland and stood up the bay, with colonel george talbot encircling with his arm his faithful wife, and with the gallant cornet murray sitting at his side. they had now an additional reason for caution against search. so murray ordered the skipper to shape his course over to the eastern shore, and to keep in between the islands and the main. this is a broad circuit outside of their course; but roger is promised a reward by mrs. talbot, to compensate him for his loss of time; and the skipper is very willing. they had fetched a compass, as the scripture phrase is, to the shore of dorset county, and steered inside of hoopers island, into the month of hungary river. here it was part of the scheme to dismiss the faithful roger from further service. with this view they landed on the island and went to mr. hoopers house, where they procured a supply of provisions, and immediately afterwards reembarked,having clean forgotten roger, until they were once more under full sail up the bay, and too far advanced to turn back! the deserted skipper bore his disappointment like a christian; and being asked, on hungary river, by a friend who met him there, and who gave his testimony before the council, what brought him there? he replied, he had been left on the island by madam talbot. and to another, where madam talbot was? he answered, she had gone up the bay to her own house. then, to a third question, how he expected his pay? he said, he was to have it of colonel darnall and major sewall; and that madam talbot had promised him a hogshead of tobacco extra, for putting ashore at hoopers island. the last question was, what news of talbot? and rogers answer, he had not been within twenty miles of him; neither did he know anything about the colonel !! but, on further discourse, he let fall, that he knew the colonel never would come to a trial,that _he_ knew this; but neither man, woman, nor child should know it, but those who knew it already. so colonel george talbot is out of the hands of the proud lord effingham, and up the bay with his wife and friends; and is buffeting the wintry head-winds in a long voyage to the elk river, which, in due time, he reaches in safety. chapter ix. troubles in council. let us now turn back to see what is doing at st. marys. on the 17th of february comes to the council a letter from lord effingham. it has the superscription, these, with the greatest care and speed. it is dated on the 11th of february from poropotanck, an indian point on the york river above gloucester, and memorable as being in the neighborhood of the spot where, some sixty years before these events, pocahontas saved the life of that mirror of chivalry, captain john smith. the letter brings information that last night [the 10th of february] colonel talbot escaped out of prison,a subsequent letter says, by the corruption of his guard,and it is full of admonition, which has very much the tone of command, urging all strenuous efforts to recapture him, and particularly recommending a proclamation of hue and cry. and now, for a month, there is a great parade in maryland of proclamation, and hue and cry, and orders to sheriffs and county colonels to keep a sharp look-out everywhere for talbot. but no person in the province seems to be anxious to catch him, except mr. nehemiah blakiston, the collector, and a few others, who seem to have been ministering to lord effinghams spleen against the council for not capturing him. his lordship writes several letters of complaint at the delay and ill success of this pursuit, and some of them in no measured terms of courtesy. i admire, he says in one of these, at any slow proceedings in service wherein his majesty is so concerned, and hope you will take off all occasions of future trouble, both unto me and you, of this nature, by manifesting yourselves zealous for his majestys service. they answer, that all imaginable care for the apprehending of talbot has been taken by issuing proclamations, etc.,but all have proved ineffectual, because talbot upon all occasions flies and takes refuge in the remotest parts of the woods and deserts of this province. at this point we get some traces of talbot. there is a deposition of robert kemble of cecil county, and some other papers, that give us a few particulars by which i am enabled to construct my narrative. colonel talbot got to his own house about the middle of february,nearly at the same time at which the news of his escape reached st. marys. he there lay warily watching the coming hue and cry for his apprehension. he collected his friends, armed them, and set them at watch and ward, at all his outposts. he had a disguise provided, in which he occasionally ventured abroad. kemble met him, on the 19th of february, at george oldfields, on elk river; and although the colonel was disguised in a flaxen wig, and in other ways, kemble says he knew him by hearing him cough in the night, in a room adjoining that in which kemble slept. whilst this witness was at oldfields, talbots shallop, he says, was busking and turning before oldfields landing for several hours. the roads leading towards talbots house were all guarded by his friends, and he had a report made to him of every vessel that arrived in the river