left the outhouse.

"That was a near go, Phil, old horse," whispered Tony excitedly. "I
thought it was all up, and was ready to jump out and tackle the other
beggar while you settled the fellow tugging at the door. We'd have
downed 'em, too, but I suppose they'd have given warning to the others."

"Certain to have done so, Tony. You may not know it, but the man who
was doing his best to break in here is the gentleman who proposes to
thrash us when we are captured."

"Oh, he is, is he?" was Tony's grim reply. "Wait a little while and
I'll settle the hash of that fine chap."

A quarter of an hour later Phil saw the horsemen collect together, and,
having saddled their ponies, they rode away from the farm, evidently to
the no small satisfaction of the farmer. In half an hour two of them
returned, and having unsaddled they turned their horses into a shed,
and, carrying their saddles, banged at the farmhouse door again.

"What now?" surlily asked the owner, appearing.

"Only a lodging for the two of us," one, a big burly fellow, the same
that had attempted to open the carriage door, answered with an oath.
"Come, master farmer, we want no trouble; accommodation for two, good
feeding, and plenty of that vodka we have already tasted, are what we
desire. We have been ordered here to keep a look-out for the runaways."

With a growl of displeasure the man bade them enter, and nothing more of
them was seen till the evening, when they appeared, evidently in an
intoxicated condition.

That night Phil was lowered from the trap-door by Tony, and when he
returned he brought a loaf of bread and a joint of meat, which he had
abstracted through an open window of the farmhouse, and in addition, a
pocketful of apples from a tiny orchard growing near.

The following day passed uneventfully. The two Cossacks made a thorough
search of the surroundings, and once more returned to their beloved
vodka.

That night again Phil went out in search of provender, but, in
endeavouring to reach a plate of provisions which stood upon a shelf
within the window, he upset a dish which clattered to the ground and
smashed into a thousand pieces. Instantly a window was thrown open and
a head put out.

Phil crept into the shadow and crouched low.

"Who is there?" a drunken voice called. "Comrade, there are thieves
about. Rouse yourself."

The window closed with a bang, and, darting across to the outhouse, Phil
rapidly clambered up through