hout a horse or money?"

Walter hesitated. By returning to Portsmouth he could get the animal
which McCleary had proposed he should ride, and yet to do so would
delay him greatly, in addition to the possibility of arousing suspicion
against his friend.

By leaving the main road six miles farther on, and striking across a
tract of wooded country, the distance could be reduced materially; but
even then there would remain at least fifty miles to be traversed.

"I can walk to Salem," he said, at length; "and there, William Cotton
will provide me with a horse."

"It is a desperate journey, and dangerous, if some should learn why you
had undertaken it. I--"

"You would not bid me stay, mother, but rather urge me forward. I have
no time to lose."

"You will at least wait until I can put up some food."

"Yes; it will be necessary to eat, I suppose. Bread and cheese will be
enough, and even that must be got together quickly."

Mrs. Neal made no attempt to dissuade her son from his purpose. That
which he had said concerning his father had been sufficient to silence
her on the score of danger; and, when the small store of provisions
were wrapped in a stout piece of cloth and placed in the pocket of his
coat, she kissed him, but did not dare trust her voice to speak.

With a stout hickory stick as a walking-cane, Walter set out, and there
was sufficient in his mind to provide ample food for thought during the
first two hours of the journey. He was not at all certain that, now
that the cost of making an attachment of his property was to be added
to the amount of his tax, Ephraim Foulsham would be willing to advance
the money; and, even if the sum could be raised in such a manner, it
was so much increased that he could not hope to see the wished-for mill
under erection until another season at the earliest.

At the end of the second hour he had accomplished at least nine miles
of the distance, and could well afford to indulge in a brief halt while
partaking of his food.

"Nine miles from home means eleven from Portsmouth," he said aloud, as
if the sound of his own voice gave him encouragement. "By this path
Salem cannot be more than twenty-four miles away, and I must make it in
five hours in order to reach Boston by sunrise. It can be done if I do
not allow myself too much time in which to rest my legs, and-"

He ceased speaking very suddenly, for at that instant, as if they had
descended from the clouds, two horsemen st