the tail. His blood ran
cold. Heavens! That household of unprotected women! For Christopher
Selwood was away from home on a week's absence, visiting a distant
property of his, and Sellon, by way of a change and seeing the country,
had accompanied him. Renshaw himself had ridden into Fort Lamport the
previous day on urgent business of his own--nothing less than to
interview a possible purchaser of his far-away desert farm. Under
ordinary circumstances, it was no uncommon thing to leave the household
without male protection for a day or two, or even longer. But now--good
heavens!

He glanced at the date of the newspaper. There should be a later one,
he said to himself. Feverishly he hunted about for it, trying to hope
that it might contain intelligence of the recapture of the runaways.
Ah, there it was! With trembling hands he tore open the double sheet,
and glanced down the columns.

"The Escaped Convicts.

"Our surmise has proved correct. The runaways have taken refuge in
the Umtirara range, from whose dense and rugged fastnesses they will,
we fear, long be able to defy the best efforts of the wholly
inadequate police force at present at the disposal of the district.
They entered a farmer's house on the lower drift, yesterday, during
the owner's absence, and by dint of threats induced his wife and
daughters to give them up all the firearms in the house. They got
possession of two guns and a revolver, and a quantity of ammunition,
and decamped in the direction of the mountains. It is a mercy they
did not maltreat the inmates."

The cold perspiration started forth in beads upon the reader's forehead.
The event recorded had occurred yesterday; the newspaper was of
to-day's date. He might yet be in time. But would he be? It was three
o'clock. Sunningdale was distant thirty-five miles. By the hardest
riding he could not arrive before dark, for the road was bad in parts,
and his horse was but an indifferent one.

In exactly five minutes he was in the saddle and riding rapidly down the
street. It crossed his mind that he was totally unarmed, for in the
settled parts of the Colony it is quite an exceptional thing to carry
weapons. He could not even turn into the nearest store and purchase a
six-shooter, for no such transaction can take place without a
magistrate's permit--to obtain which would mean going out of his way,
possibly delay at the office, should that functionary chance