t the Mounted Constabulary," said Mark. "There are at least a dozen
fellows I know who would, like myself, be glad to join it, and I dare
say we could get a score of young farmers or farmers' sons."

"It is not a bad idea, Mark, and I dare say that for a time the duty
would be zealously performed, but before very long you would tire of it.
A few wet nights or winter's cold, and you would cease to see the fun of
it, especially as you may be sure that the news that the roads are well
patrolled would soon come to the ears of these scoundrels, and they
would cease to work in the district."

"Perhaps you are right, sir; but I think that a few of us would stick to
it."

"Perhaps so, Mark, but I should be sorry to wager that the work would
be thoroughly done. The first county or hunt ball, or even dinner party,
more than half of them would be away. I don't say that you personally
might not for some considerable time persist in patrolling the roads,
for you have a sort of personal interest in the matter; but I would
wager that before two months have passed you would find you were the
only one who attended at the rendezvous regularly."

A fortnight later the party were seated round the fire in the dusk.
Mr. Bastow was sitting next to the Squire, and was in unusually good
spirits. He had heard no word of what the Squire had discovered, nor
dreamed that his son was again in England, still less that he was
suspected of being one of the men who had endeavored to stop the Squire
and his son on their drive from London. Suddenly there was the crack of
a pistol outside, and a ball passed between him and the Squire. Without
a word, Mark Thorndyke rushed to the door, seized a pistol from his
riding coat, and, snatching up a heavy whip, dashed out into the garden.

He was just in time to see a figure running at full speed, and he set
off in pursuit. Good runner as he was, he gained but slightly at first,
but after a time he drew nearer to the fugitive. The latter was but
some sixty yards away when he leaped a hedge into a narrow lane. Mark
followed without hesitation, but as he leaped into the road he heard a
jeering laugh and the sharp sound of a horse's hoofs, and knew that the
man he was pursuing had gained his horse and made off. Disgusted at his
failure, he went slowly back to the house. The shutters had been put up.

"I have lost him, father. He ran well to begin with, but I was gaining
fast on him when he leaped into a narrow l