om the room
where he had been holding counsel with Mistress Dowsabel. He looked
at the two beside the fireplace, and at that other pair in the
window, both too much absorbed in each other to heed him; and with
a smile upon his face he strode forward and laid his hand upon
Kate's shoulder.

"And so, my headstrong daughter, it is to that strong will of
thine, and the reckless courage I have sometimes chidden, that we
owe our lives and our safety today?" he said.

Culverhouse looked up eagerly.

"What sayest thou, sir?" he asked, whilst Kate's face crimsoned
over from brow to chin.

"Say, my lad? why, I say that but for this hardy wench of mine,
who, instead of retreating behind the strong walls of the house,
flung open with her own hands the iron gates to let us in, we
should by this time have been in sorry plight enow, had we not all
been dead men. It was she who opened those gates when all else
feared to do so--she who (aided by her two companions, whom she
inspired by her own courage) saved us from our foes. It was she who
shot down the foremost enemies, who would else have had thy life,
Culverhouse, and with her own hands dragged thee, all unconscious
as thou wert, within these gates.

"Wherefore, as to thee, boy, I owe my life (for that thou didst
receive in thine arm the charge that else would have dashed out my
brains), and that to her we both owe this timely rescue, methinks
that no wife nor daughter could do more, and that we must let
bygones be bygones and wed you so soon as may be. I will give my
fatherly blessing to you twain, for you are worthy of each other,
and have proved it this night. And so soon as you can win the
sanction of your good parents to your nuptials, Culverhouse, I will
give my saucy Kate to you without a doubt or a fear."

Chapter 25: "On The Dark Flowing River."

"That is our man! Seize him, bind him, and bring him before the
chief!"

Cuthbert heard these words spoken in a clear low tone not far away;
but the fog wreaths were hanging upon the river, and he could not
see the speakers. Instinctively he bent harder to his oar. The
wherry shot at redoubled speed through the dull, gleaming water;
but there were sounds astern of other plashing oars, the sound of
voices low yet eager, and Cuthbert felt sure he heard the name of
Trevlyn spoken in accents of subdued fierceness. He could hear by
the sound of the oars in the rowlocks that there were many rowers
in the pursuing boat.