is means of asserting
his claim to her guardianship, and the man I had seen in the
coppice a few days before was an emissary of his. Without a doubt
she was now a prisoner in the coach, being carried against her will
to Shrewsbury.

The road here ran steeply downhill, and the coach was out of sight
round a bend. Without pausing to consider the chances of overtaking
it, I leapt rather than ran forward, soon outstripping the dog,
which had done his best, poor beast, but was now well-nigh
exhausted. I flung away my staff, that encumbered me, and tore
headlong down the hill, till, coming to the bend, where the road
sloped upwards, I caught sight once more of the coach, no more than
half a mile ahead of me. This surprised me, for neither the ascent
nor my speed could account for its nearness, and I wondered, as I
pounded after it, whether I had after all been mistaken.

But the matter was explained when I came to the inn that stood at
the point where my short cut branched off. I saw wheel tracks to
the right, crossed by similar tracks back again to the road, and I
guessed that the postilion had intended to drive his horses down
the byroad, but having found it too rough or too narrow had been
compelled to return, even at the cost of loss of time in backing.

My heart leapt with exultation; the kidnappers were not making for
Shrewsbury after all; they purposed driving southward, with what
design I could not guess, nor did I stop to consider, for in a
twinkling I saw a possibility of intercepting them. Dashing into
the inn, much to the amazement of the innkeeper, who had sometimes
served Roger and me with a pot of ale as we returned from fishing,
I told him my suspicions in quick, breathless gasps, and bade him
send to Mr. Allardyce for assistance, and to follow me, if he
could, along the byroad to Deuxhill. The man was not too
quick-witted, and I could have beaten him for his slowness to
comprehend the urgency of the affair. But some glimmering of it
dawning upon him, he promised to borrow a horse from Farmer Grubb
close by, he having none of his own, and to send a messenger back
to the Hall. Without further parley I left him, and set off along
the byroad, scarce giving a glance to the poor dog limping
painfully towards the inn.

Chapter 11: I Hold A Turnpike.

Could I reach the turnpike in time? I wondered. I had lost perhaps
three minutes at the inn. The coach must already have reached the
crossroads, and was n