They were being too much
attached to their masters to join in the attack, but were afraid of
being compelled to assist the rioters, and not resolute enough
against their own class either to inform against them or oppose
them.
Through the midnight-like stillness of the street rose the tumult
around the Rectory; and by the light of a few lanterns, and from the
upper windows, they could see a mass of old hats, smock-frocked
shoulders, and the tops of bludgeons; while at soonest, Sir George
Eastwood's troop could not be expected for an hour or more.
'We must get to them somehow,' said my father and Griff to one
another; and Griff added, 'These rascals are arrant cowards, and
they can't see the number of us.'
Then, before my father knew what he was about--certainly before he
could get hold of the Riot Act--he found the stable lantern made
over to him, and Griff's sword flashing in light, as, making all
possible clatter and jingling with their accoutrements, the two
yeomen dashed among the throng, shouting with all their might, and
striking with the flat of their swords. The rioters, ill-fed, dull-
hearted men for the most part--many dragged out by compulsion, and
already terrified--went tumbling over one another and running off
headlong, bearing off with them (as we afterwards learnt) their
leaders by their weight, taking the blows and pushes they gave one
another in their pell-mell rush for those of the soldiery, and
falling blindly against the low wall of the enclosure.
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