But it was not a moment for mirth; for rushing down the road with awful strides appeared two sturdy and enraged husbandmen, one armed with a pike and the other with a pitchfork, and accompanied by a frantic female, who never for a moment ceased hallooing “Murder, r**e, and fire!” everything but “theft.”
“Now, Essper, here’s a pretty scrape!”
“Stop, you rascals!” hallooed Adolph, the herdsman.
“Stop, you g**g of thieves!” hallooed Wilhelm, the ploughman.
“Stop, you b****y murderers!” shrieked Phillippa, the indignant mistress of the dairy and the poultry-yard.
“Stop, you villains!” hallooed all three. The villains certainly made no attempt to escape, and in half a second the enraged household of the forest farmer would have seized on Essper George; but just at this crisis he uttered lo
