hoot him with a bottle of Daffy's elixir, when in an instant,
without warning, I was dashed violently from my horse, and left lying
half-conscious on the stony track.

So stunned and shaken was I by the sudden fall, that though I had a dim
knowledge of shadowy figures bending over me, and of hoarse laughter
sounding in my ears, I could not tell for a few minutes where I was nor
what had befallen me. When at last I did make an attempt to recover my
feet I found that a loop of rope had been slipped round my arms and my
legs so as to secure them. With a hard struggle I got one hand free, and
dashed it in the face of one of the men who were holding me down; but
the whole gang of a dozen or more set upon me at once, and while some
thumped and kicked at me, others tied a fresh cord round my elbows, and
deftly fastened it in such a way as to pinion me completely. Finding
that in my weak and dazed state all efforts were of no avail, I lay
sullen and watchful, taking no heed of the random blows which were still
showered upon me. So dark was it that I could neither see the faces of
my attackers, nor form any guess as to who they might be, or how they
had hurled me from my saddle. The champing and stamping of a horse hard
by showed me that Covenant was a prisoner as well as his master.

'Dutch Pete's got as much as he can carry,' said a rough, harsh voice.
'He lies on the track as limp as a conger.'

'Ah, poor Pete!' muttered another. 'He'll never deal a card or drain a
glass of the right Cognac again.'

'There you lie, mine goot vriend,' said the injured man, in weak,
quavering tones. 'And I will prove that you lie if you have a flaschen
in your pocket.'

'If Pete were dead and buried,' the first speaker said, 'a word about
strong waters would bring him to. Give him a sup from your bottle,
Dicon.'

There was a great gurgling and sucking in the darkness, followed by a
gasp from the drinker. 'Gott sei gelobt,' he exclaimed in a stronger
voice, 'I have seen more stars than ever were made. Had my kopf not
been well hooped he would have knocked it in like an ill-staved cask. He
shlags like the kick of a horse.'

As he spoke the edge of the moon peeped over a cliff and threw a flood
of cold clear light upon the scene. Looking up I saw that a strong rope
had been tied across the road from one tree trunk to another about eight
feet above the ground. This could not be seen by me, even had I been
fully awake, in the dusk; but catch