etch of swamp,
across a patch of stones, always at the same half gallop. Lady Mary
looked down and smiled at the enjoyment in her companion's face.

"You've passed the first test," she declared, "but then I knew you
would. I brought Mr. Montague along here yesterday morning, and he
cried like a child."

"Mr. Who?" Jacob gasped.

"Mr. Montague and a friend of his. They came down with father last
night. Perfectly abominable men. I hope you won't leave me to their
tender mercies for a single moment, Mr. Pratt."

To Jacob, the warmth seemed to have gone from the sunlight, and the
tearing wind was no longer bringing him joy. Up above him, the long
white front of Kelsoton Castle had come into view. His wonderful
holiday, then, had come to this--that he must walk, minute by minute,
in fear of his liberty, perhaps his life. He was to spend the days he
had looked forward to so much in this lonely spot with the men who
were his sworn enemies. He looked behind him for a moment. The train
by which he had come had disappeared long ago across a dark stretch of
barren moor. Escape, even if he had thought of it, was cut off.

"I gather that you don't care much for Mr. Montague, either," she
remarked, flicking one of the pony's ears.

Jacob roused himself.

"Not exactly my choice of a holiday companion," he admitted.

She leaned towards him.

"You are only going to have one companion," she told him. "I have
demanded your head upon a charger--or rather your body in tennis
flannels--for the rest of the day. The others are all going for a
picnic."

"Is that fellow Maurice somebody coming down?" Jacob asked anxiously.

"He hasn't even been asked," she assured him, with a flash of her blue
eyes. "Here we are at the first lodge. Now for a gallop up the
avenue."

The Marquis in kilts, the very prototype of the somewhat worn Scottish
chieftain of ancient lineage, welcomed his visitor on the threshold,
from which the great oak doors had been thrown back.

"So sorry we haven't the bagpipes," he apologised, as he shook Jacob's
hand. "We shall get into form in a day or two. Now you'll have a bath
and some breakfast, won't you? Your things will be up in a few
moments. You'll find some old friends here," he added, as he piloted
Jacob across the huge, bare hall, "but my daughter tells me that she
claims you for tennis--to-day, at any rate."

Everything seemed cheerful and reassuring. His room looked straight
out on to a magnificent,