e
were not molested, and I neither saw nor heard anything which indicated
a search. Whether the hackman, knowing that he was engaged in doubtful
business, did not call for assistance, or whether the pursuit was
delayed till it was too late to catch us, I have no information. We
walked down the avenue as rapidly as possible, till I was satisfied we
should not be overtaken.

"O, Ernest Thornton," gasped Kate, out of breath with fatigue and
terror, after we had walked a couple of miles, "I shall sink to the
ground soon!"

"I am sorry for you, Kate; but what can I do?" I replied.

"I am tired out; and I am so frightened, I can hardly walk."

"Don't be alarmed; we are safe now," I added, drawing her arm through
mine. "Now lean on me."

"But you must be tired, Ernest Thornton."

"No, not a particle; let me help you as much as I can."

"This is much easier than it was before," said she; and she clung to me
like a frightened child--as indeed she was.

"Don't be afraid to lean your whole weight upon me," I added. "I would
carry you if I could."

I think it was her fears more than her exertions that exhausted her;
and, by the time we had walked another mile, as I estimated the
distance, she declared that she felt better, and more able to walk than
at first. As we continued on our way, I saw a horse car on another
avenue,--street railroads at that time were not so abundant as now,--and
we followed a cross street till we came to the track.

"I feel ever so much better now!" exclaimed Kate, as the circumstances
became more hopeful.

"There is nothing more to fear," I replied. "I wish I knew how Tom
Thornton was."

"Why, what is the matter with him?" asked Kate, with astonishment; and I
perceived that she had no definite idea of what had happened before the
public house. The poor girl was so terrified that she had hardly known
anything from the time our suspicions were first excited till we had
walked two or three miles from the scene of the affray.

"Did you think, Kate, that he permitted us to leave the carriage?" I
asked.

"I didn't think anything about it; I was so frightened I couldn't
think."

"I hope he is not badly hurt," I added, musing.

"Badly hurt! Why, what do you mean, Ernest Thornton?" she asked, her
terror renewed by my words.

"Don't be alarmed, Kate; he deserved all he got, and more too, if the
blow didn't kill him."

"Why, Ernest Thornton!"

"Do you see this?" I added, holding up the wren