And then the Doctor and the Senechal would be close at hand and on the
keen look-out for emergencies.
The Doctor undertook to pad his head with something in the nature of a
turban under his hat, which, he vowed, would resist the impact of iron
blows better than metal itself.
"Leave my ears loose, anyway," said Gard. "I'd like at all events to be
able to hear it coming."
The Senechal had a weapon, part pistol and the rest blunderbuss, which
had belonged to his father, who had always referred to it affectionately
as his "dunderbush." It had seen strange doings in its time, but had
been so long retired from the active list, that he undertook to load and
fire it himself before he said any more about it.
And he did it next day, with a full charge, in his meadow, with the
assistance of a gate-post and a long cord, and reported it at night as
in excellent order, and calculated to blow into smithereens anything
blowable that stood up before it within the short limit of its range.
At this stage in its proceedings the Vicar reluctantly retired from the
Committee of Public Safety.
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