back to the
station where they had left their horses.

"I wish that you would remain here until the morning," said the
lieutenant, when they reached it. "There are a number of rough
characters allied with the smugglers, who, should they fall in with you,
may take it into their heads to revenge themselves by shooting you."

"I am not afraid of them," answered the young lord. "Voules and I
together are able to tackle a dozen such fellows. Thank you for your
invitation, but our friends at the hall will be anxious to know what has
happened, and I want to tell my father how admirably you have managed
affairs."

The lieutenant, finding that the midshipmen could not be induced to
remain, ordered the horses to be brought out, and Lord Reginald, saying
that he would the next morning send a groom for the animal the
lieutenant had ridden, being well acquainted with the way, set off with
Voules for the hall.

"As there is no fear of our losing the road, even in the dark, we may as
well take a short cut," he observed, after they had gone some distance.
"We shall save a mile or more, and have the advantage of turf. The
moon, too, will soon be up, and we shall be able to gallop a good part
of the distance."

Voules had nothing to say against this proposal, though he would have
preferred the high road.

"This lane will lead us on to the heath, and as the sky is clear, there
will be light enough, even before the moon rises, besides which our
horses know the way as well as I do," said Lord Reginald.

They rode down the lane at a more steady pace than they had hitherto
been going, for it was full of ruts, and somewhat narrow and winding.
It conducted them on to a wild heath, beyond which could be discerned
the outskirts of the New Forest, the trees in some places projecting
over the heath like the advance guard of an army, while in others wild
glades opened out extending far into the interior. Towards one of these
glades Lord Reginald directed his course.

"By keeping a little to the right it will lead us to the high road
again," he observed. "There's the moon just rising above the trees. We
shall be able to push along now, without fear of rushing into a hedge."

Crossing the heath by a tolerably well-defined footpath, they entered
the forest, and were galloping along a grassy glade, on which their
horses' hoofs produced scarcely a sound, when Lord Reginald uttered an
exclamation of surprise.

"Halloa! I see a fellow