ess. Then he deliberately swerved from the path that would
have led straight over the bodies of the two girls, made a sweep to the
right, and thundered on, followed by his drove of wild horses.

From her position, face downward on the ground, Madge had been acutely
conscious of everything that had occurred. She seemed to have seen with
her ears rather than her eyes. She knew that Phil had risked her own
life to save hers, and that Phil's presence of mind had saved them
both.

"It's all right, dear," remarked Phil coolly, when the horses had
passed out of sight. But the hand she reached out to Madge to help lift
her from the ground was trembling.

Once she was on her feet the little captain caught tight hold of Phil's
arm.

"It was real, wasn't it, Phil? We _did_ see a drove of wild horses dash
by us?"

Phil nodded calmly. "It was much too real for a few seconds," she
rejoined. "Now I understand the far-off noise of the tramping of many
feet that we have heard before. These horses must always stay herded
together. When they are weary of grazing they make these wild rushes.
How do you suppose they ever came on this island?"

Madge shook her head. She had no possible guess that she dared to make.

There is a story, which the girls heard long afterward, about this
drove of wild horses, that even at the present time lives on an island
not far from the Chesapeake Bay. Many years ago a Spanish family had
their estate on this now deserted island. When they moved away they
left their horses alone on the island. Forsaken by man, these horses
returned to the wild, free state in which they lived before they were
haltered, harnessed and trained by human beings to become their beasts
of burden.

CHAPTER XV

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

It was late afternoon of the same day. The two girls had made their way
across the greater part of the island without finding a human
habitation or seeing another human being. What had become of the men
that Phil had seen in the woods?

How far the girls had traveled they did not know. The way may have
seemed long, because there were no paths and they were entirely
unfamiliar with the country. But Madge and Phil had made up their minds
that there was nothing else for them to do. They must spend the night
in the woods. It was out of the question for them to attempt to recross
the island before daylight. Perhaps on their way home the next day they
might have better luck in discovering the