ross
the open.

For the first hundred yards they ran breathlessly. How naked and bare
the land seemed around them after the friendly shelter of the narrow
lanes and alleys they had just left! Then, as they forged steadily
ahead, and the rim of the cup-shaped hollow came nearer at every
stride, hope awoke in their hearts and they strained forward, counting
on the moment when they would slip over the sky-line, and be lost to
sight of the broken walls and towers amid which their enemies sought
them.

"See that big white stone," said Jack, who had to draw himself in to
an easy trot lest he should outrun his companions, "we have only got
to make that, and we're clean out of sight."

Thirty yards from the white stone the woman tripped, stumbled, and
fell. Before they left the ruins Jack had wished to carry the child,
but she had refused.

"Push ahead, father," called Jack. "I'll pick her up and bring her
on."

He sprang to the woman's side, and swung her to her feet by main
strength. He glanced back as he did so--he had looked back every few
yards as he ran. He gave a mutter of deep satisfaction, "All quiet!"
But the words on his lips came to a sudden end in a gasp of dismay and
horror. Round a far angle of the ruined wall four horsemen swept into
sight at a gentle trot.

For a second Jack stared at them aghast He knew at once what it was.
Their enemies had foreseen the possibility of such a bolt from cover
as they were now making, and a patrol was on guard about the deserted
city.

Jack hurried the woman forward, hoping against hope that no eye would
be raised to catch sight of the knot of fugitives on the hill-side. A
wild yell raised from four savage throats told him a moment later that
his hopes were vain. He glanced back, and saw that the riders had
lashed their speedy ponies to a furious gallop and were climbing the
slope towards them at terrific speed.

The fugitives exchanged not a word. They ran now in silence, looking
on every hand for some way of escape from the horsemen who followed.
Jack burned to gain the ridge and see what was beyond. "If it's broken
and rocky ground," he thought, "it may prove too rough for their
ponies to face."

[Illustration: THE INTERCEPTED FLIGHT.]

He looked eagerly out as they gained the ridge, and a bitter
exclamation broke from his lips. The ground was more open and easy
than that they had just crossed. They still ran on, but now without
hope of escape, merely running