urn
back and surrender unconditionally. Barnes breathed a deep sigh; so
much for a tippet!--their dash for freedom had been but a sorry
attempt!--now he saw visions of prison bars, and uttered a groan, when
the soldier who was riding his own horse dashed forward beneath the
window and stood upright in his stirrups.

"Do not be afraid, Miss Carew," he said.

Fortunately the window was low and the distance inconsiderable, but
Barnes held his breath, hoping the hazard would deter her.

"Do not, my dear!" he began.

But she did not hesitate; the sight of the stalwart figure and the
strong arms, apparently reassured her, and she stepped upon the sill.

"Quick!" he exclaimed, and, at the word, she dropped into his
upstretched arms. Scarcely had she escaped, however, before the
landlord was seen at the same window. So astonished was he to find her
gone, surprise at first held him speechless; then he burst into a
volley of oaths that would have shamed a whaler's master.

"Come back!" he cried. "Come back, or--" The alternative was lost in
vengeful imprecation.

Holding Constance before him, the soldier resumed his saddle. "Drive
on!" he cried to Barnes, as past the chariot sped his horse, with its
double burden.

CHAPTER XVII

THE HAND FERRY

At a lively gait down the road toward the river galloped the horse
bearing Saint-Prosper and Constance. The thoroughfare was deserted and
the dwelling houses as well as the principal buildings of the town
were absolutely dark. At one place a dog ran out to the front gate,
disturbed by the unusual noise on the road, and barked furiously, but
they moved rapidly on. Now the steeple of the old church loomed
weirdly against the dark background of the sky and then vanished.

On; on, they went, past the churchyard, with its marble slabs
indistinctly outlined in the darkness, like a phantom graveyard, as
immaterial and ghostlike itself as the spirits of the earliest
settlers at rest there beneath the sod. This was the last indication
of the presence of the town, the final impression to carry away into
the wide country, where the road ran through field and forest. As they
sped along, they plunged into a chasm of blackness, caused by the
trees on both sides of the road which appeared to be constantly
closing upon them. In the darkness of that stygian tunnel, dashing
blindly through threatening obscurity, she yet felt no terrors, for a
band of steel seemed to hold her above som