e the road connected with the open Highway; from there on the
way was easy and devoid of peril. Suddenly his horse swerved and leaped
furiously out of stride, stumbling, but recovering himself almost
instantaneously. In the same second he heard the sharp crack of a
firearm, far down the unbroken ravine to his left. A second shot came,
this time from the right and quite close at hand. His horse was
staggering, swaying--then down he crashed, Hobbs swinging clear barely
in time to escape being pinioned to the ground. A stream of blood was
pouring from the side of the poor beast. Aghast at this unheard of
wantonness, the little interpreter knew not which way to turn, but stood
there dazed until a third shot brought him to his senses. The bullet
kicked up the dust near his feet. He scrambled for the heavy underbrush
at the roadside and darted off into the forest, his revolver in his
hand, his heart palpitating like mad. Time and again as he fled through
the dark thickets, he heard the hoarse shouts of men in the distance. It
dawned upon him at last that there had been an uprising of some kind in
the city--that there was rioting and murder going on--that these men
were not ordinary bandits, but desperate strikers in quest of
satisfaction for grievances ignored.

Night came and he dropped to the soft, dank earth, utterly exhausted and
absolutely lost for the time being in the pathless hills.

At ten o'clock the next morning Colonel Quinnox and a company of
soldiers, riding from the city gates toward the north in response to a
call for help from honest herders who reported attacks and robberies of
an alarming nature, came upon the stiff, foot-sore, thorn-scratched Mr.
Hobbs, not far from the walls of the town. The Colonel was not long in
grasping the substance of Hobbs's revelations. He rode off at once for
the Witch's hovel, sending Hobbs with a small, instructed escort to the
Castle, where Baron Dangloss was in consultation with Mr. Tullis and
certain ministers.

The city was peaceful enough, much to the surprise of Hobbs. No
disturbance had been reported, said the guardsmen who rode beside him.
Up in the hills there had been some depredations, but that was all.

"All?" groaned Mr. Hobbs. "All? Hang it all, man, wot do you call all?
You haven't heard 'alf all of it yet. I tell you, there's been the devil
to pay. Wait till the Colonel comes back from Ganlook Gap. He'll have
news for you; take it from me, he will. That poor