jor," he said; "I hope I may be back again in eight or nine
days with a squadron of cavalry."

"Goodby, Forster; I hope it may be so. May God protect you!"

The gap in the defenses was closed the instant the horses passed
through, and the men stood in the breach of the wall listening as
Forster rode off. He went at a walk, but before he had gone fifty paces
there was a sharp challenge, followed almost instantly by a rifle shot,
then came the crack of a revolver and the rapid beat of galloping hoofs.
Loud shouts were heard, and musket shots fired in rapid succession.

"They are not likely to have hit him in the dark," the Major said, as
he climbed back over the sandbags; "but they may hit his horses, which
would be just as fatal."

Leaving two sentries--the one just outside the breach near the wall,
the other on the sandbags--the rest of the party hurried up on the
roof. Shots were still being fired, and there was a confused sound of
shouting; then a cavalry trumpet rang out sharply, and presently three
shots fired in quick succession came upon the air.

"That is the signal agreed on," the Major said: "he is safely beyond
their lines. Now it is a question of riding; some of the cavalry will be
in pursuit of him before many minutes are over."

Forster's adieus had been brief. He had busied himself up to the last
moment in looking to the saddling of the two horses, and had only gone
into the house and said goodby to the ladies just when it was time to
start. He had said a few hopeful words as to the success of the mission,
but it had evidently needed an effort for him to do so. He had no
opportunity of speaking a word apart with Isobel, and he shook her hand
silently when it came to her turn.

"I should not have given him credit for so much feeling," Mrs. Doolan
whispered to Isobel, as he went out; "he was really sorry to leave us,
and I didn't think he was a man to be sorry for anything that didn't
affect himself. I think he had absolutely the grace to feel a little
ashamed of leaving us."

"I don't think that is fair," Isobel said warmly, "when he is going away
to fetch assistance for us."

"He is deserting us as rats desert a sinking ship," Mrs. Doolan said
positively; "and I am only surprised that he has the grace to feel a
little ashamed of the action. As for caring, there is only one person in
the world he cares for--himself. I was reading 'David Copperfield'
just before we came in here, and Steerforth's ch