They were soon made sensible of this, for two days afterwards they
found several parties of horsemen and footmen also about, in pursuit
of three companies of men, armed, as they said, with muskets, who
were broke out from London and had the plague upon them, and that
were not only spreading the distemper among the people, but
plundering the country.
As they saw now the consequence of their case, they soon saw the
danger they were in; so they resolved by the advice also of the old
soldier to divide themselves again. John and his two comrades, with
the horse, went away, as if towards Waltham; the other in two
companies, but all a little asunder, and went towards Epping.
The first night they encamped all in the forest, and not far off of one
another, but not setting up the tent, lest that should discover them. On
the other hand, Richard went to work with his axe and his hatchet, and
cutting down branches of trees, he built three tents or hovels, in which
they all encamped with as much convenience as they could expect.
The provisions they had at Walthamstow served them very
plentifully this night; and as for the next, they left it to Providence.
They had fared so well with the old soldier’s conduct that they now
willingly made him their leader, and the first of his conduct appeared
to be very good. He told them that they were now at a proper distance
enough from London; that as they need not be immediately beholden
to the country for relief, so they ought to be as careful the country did
not infect them as that they did not infect the country; that what little
money they had, they must be as frugal of as they could; that as he
would not have them think of offering the country any violence, so
they must endeavour to make the sense of their condition go as far
with the country as it could. They all referred themselves to his
direction, so they left their three houses standing, and the next day
went away towards Epping. The captain also (for so they now called
him), and his two fellow-travellers, laid aside their design of going to
Waltham, and all went together.
When they came near Epping they halted, choosing out a proper
place in the open forest, not very near the highway, but not far out of
it on the north side, under a little cluster of low pollard-trees. Here
they pitched their little camp – which consisted of three large tents or
huts made of poles which their carpenter, and such as were his
assistants, cut down and fixed in the ground in a circle, binding all the
small ends together at the top and thickening the sides with boughs of
trees and bushes, so that they were completely close and warm. They
had, besides this, a little tent where the women lay by themselves, and
a hut to put the horse in.
It happened that the next day, or next but one, was market-day at
Epping, when Captain John and one of the other men went to market
and bought some provisions; that is to say, bread, and some mutton
and beef; and two of the women went separately, as if they had not
belonged to the rest, and bought more. John took the horse to bring it
home, and the sack which the carpenter carried his tools in, to put it
in. The carpenter went to work and made them benches and stools to
sit on, such as the wood he could get would afford, and a kind of table
to dine on.
They were taken no notice of for two or three days, but after that
abundance of people ran out of the town to look at them, and all the
country was alarmed about them. The people at first seemed afraid to
come near them; and, on the other hand, they desired the people to
keep off, for there was a rumour that the plague was at Waltham, and
that it had been in Epping two or three days; so John called out to
them not to come to them, ‘for,’ says he, ‘we are all whole and sound