ation being the likelihood of pursuit. Would the
disappearance of the coach from the highroad have been discovered by
now? This might or might not be the case. Breakdowns sometimes
occurred which caused delay, and in case of anything serious the guard
sometimes rode forward on one of the horses to obtain assistance.

"They must have been expecting of us at the stage beyond Tod's Corner,"
said one fellow; "and most likely after a time they'll send a man back
as far as the last stopping-place. He'll hear we passed there all
right, and then the question'll be what's become of us." The speaker
chuckled, as though picturing to himself the astonishment of the
stableman when it dawned on him that a coach and four, with guard,
driver, and passengers, had apparently vanished into thin air, at some
spot on the ten or twelve miles of dark, lonely road over which he had
just ridden.

"It's bound to come out some time," answered a voice which I recognized
as Rodwood's; "but it'll take time. Granted that the man has ridden
back by now and found out that we're gone--well, what's he going to do?
He and the rest will waste another hour talking; or perhaps they'll
wait for the mail to come along, and tell the folks on that what's
happened. Then it's ten to one they'll take it for granted that we've
made off further inland. No; we're safe enough at present. With
anything like luck we ought to have a fair start till morning."

Hardly had the words been uttered when there came a warning "Hist!"
from some member of the gang whose sense of hearing must have been
particularly acute. Men who go in constant peril of losing their
liberty need no second hint of the presence of danger, and at once a
deathlike silence prevailed. So infectious was the suppressed
excitement that I felt the strain as much as if I myself had been an
escaping prisoner. My heart thumped, and I held my breath, eager to
ascertain the cause of the alarm.

For some moments I heard nothing; then, distinct and not far distant,
there was a metallic tinkle as of a light chain. A pause followed, and
then the sound was repeated, this time nearer to the pit, while at the
same instant an exactly similar noise came from some little distance
away in the opposite direction. On that wild spot, at such an hour,
any sound not attributable to the wild animals or the forces of nature
might have awakened the listener's curiosity; but in the present
instance it was calculated