here was a sharp exclamation of pain
from the highwayman, who wrenched round his horse and galloped down the
lane from which he had issued, the groom sending two bullets after him.

"Where is the other man?" Mark exclaimed, as his father reined in the
horses.

"Somewhere on the ground there, Mark; I saw him fall from his saddle as
we passed him."

"Is it any use pursuing the other, father? I am pretty sure I hit him."

"I am quite sure you did, but it is no good our following; the side
roads are so cut up by ruts that we should break a spring before we had
gone a hundred yards. No, we will stop and look at this fellow who is
unhorsed, Mark."

The groom got down, and, taking one of the carriage lamps, proceeded to
a spot where the highwayman's horse was standing. The man was already
dead, the bullet having hit him a few inches above the heart.

"He is dead, father."

"I think you had better lift him up on the foot board behind; James can
ride his horse. We will hand the body over to the constable at Reigate.
He may know who he is, or find something upon him that may afford a clew
that will lead to the capture of his companion."

"No, I don't know him, Squire," the constable said as they stopped
before his house and told him what had happened. "However, he certainly
is dead, and I will get one of the men to help me carry him into the
shed behind the courthouse. So you say that you think that the other is
wounded?"

"I am pretty sure he is. I heard him give an exclamation as my son
fired."

"That is good shooting, Mr. Mark," the constable said. "If every
passenger could use his arms as you do there would soon be an end to
stopping coaches. I will see what he has got about him, and will come up
and let you know, Squire, the first thing in the morning."

"I will send Knapp down," John Thorndyke said, as they drove homewards.
"I am rather curious to know if this fellow is the same Mrs. Cunningham
wrote about. I will tell him to take Peters along with him."

"I hardly see that there can be any connection between the two.
Highwaymen don't go in for house breaking. I think they consider that to
be a lower branch of the profession."

"Generally they do, no doubt, Mark; but you know I told you that the
chief at Bow Street said that he had a suspicion that the highway
robbers and the house breakers who have been creating so much alarm are
the same men."

"It is curious that they should have happened to light on us