ou? An anti-renter?" he added, suspiciously.

"He must be an enemy of the land baron," interrupted the woman,
passing her hand across her brow. "He was with us in the grove. I saw
him ride up and took him to be a barn-burner. He crossed the meadow
with us. I saw his face; distinctly as I see it now! He asked me about
the patroon--yes, I remember now!--and what was she like, the woman
who was with him!"

"I am no friend of his," continued the soldier in a firm voice. "You
had one purpose in seeking him; I, another! He carried off this lady.
I was following him, when I met you in the grove."

"Then how came you here--in this room?"

"By the way of a tree, the branch of which reaches to the window."

"The land baron was in this room a moment ago. Where is he now?"

For answer Saint-Prosper pointed to the window.

"Then you let him--"

"We're wasting time," impatiently shouted the barn-burner who had
disclaimed the soldier's identity to the patroon. "Come!" With an
oath. "Do you want to lose him after all? He can't be far away. And
this one, damn him! isn't our man!"

For a second the crowd wavered, then with a vengeful shout they shot
from the room, disappearing as quickly as they had come. Led by Little
Thunder, who, being a man of peace, had discreetly remained without,
they had reached the gate in their headlong pursuit when they were met
by a body of horsemen, about to turn into the yard as the anti-renters
were hurrying out. At sight of this formidable band, the lease-holders
immediately scattered. Taken equally by surprise, the others made
little effort to intercept them and soon they had vanished over field
and down dell. Then the horsemen turned, rode through the avenue of
trees, and drew up noisily before the portico.

From their window the soldier and his companion observed the abrupt
encounter at the entrance of the manor grounds and the dispersion of
the lease-holders like leaves before the autumn gusts. Constance, who
had breathlessly watched the flight of the erstwhile assailants, felt
her doubts reawakened as the horsemen drew up before the door.

"Are they coming back?" she asked, involuntarily clasping the arm of
her companion.

She who had been so courageous and self-controlled throughout that
long, trying day, on a sudden felt strangely weak and dependent. He
leaned from the narrow casement to command the view below, striving to
pierce the gloom, and she, following his example, gazed over h