I laughed at the thought.
"I hope your theory is true," I said, "for it will leave us an open road. 'Twas luck we did not meet the fellows below. Come, Noreen, we cannot wait here speculating; we'll make good use of those two hours."
I led the horses into the open, and helped her up into the saddle. Her hand as I touched it, was cold and wet.
"You are frightened," I whispered, "but the danger is past."
"Oh, I know; but I cannot tell you how I dread that man. Even as a child I feared him, and his father—and—and now—" she shivered as though from chill.
"You are safe enough out of his clutches at last. They are afoot, and can never overtake us. Don't lose your nerve, Noreen."
I mounted my own horse, and we rode out boldly across the open field. There was a narrow fringe of trees guarding the outer edge, and beyond these we came to the Hot Springs pike, clearly visible beneath the soft gleam of the stars. Satisfied that all immediate danger had been left behind, and eager to advance as far as possible before daylight, I urged the horses into swifter stride. It was, as I remembered, forty miles to Hot Springs over a mountain road. If
