d it is a ruse. Is she hurt?"

He pushed Pendennis aside unceremoniously, and lifted Anne in his arms,
as easily as if she had been a child.

I think she must have been regaining consciousness, for I heard him say
rapidly and tenderly:

"Courage, _petite_, thou shalt soon be safe."

"Who are you?" demanded Pendennis, peering at him in perplexity. His
disguise was palpable and incongruous enough, now that he was speaking
in his natural voice.

"Her friend, as I presume you are; therefore follow if you would save
her and yourself. There is no time for talk!"

With Anne in his arms he made for the door by which he had entered, and
Pendennis rushed after him. Anne's arms were round his neck; she was
clinging to him, and her head lay on his shoulder. I saw the gleam of
her bright hair as they passed through the doorway,--the last I was to
see of Anne Pendennis for many a long day.

I staggered forward, trying to beat back the horrible faintness that was
overwhelming me, and to follow them, stumbled over a corpse, and fell
headlong. An agonizing pain shot through me, beginning at my left arm,
and I knew now that it was broken. The pain dispelled the faintness for
the time being, but I made no attempt to rise. Impossible to follow
them now, or even if not impossible, I could be of no service; I should
only hamper their flight. Better stay here and die.

I think I prayed that I might die soon; I know I prayed that they might
yet reach safety. Where had Anne's father sprung from? How could he have
known of her capture, of this meeting in the heart of the woods? How had
he made his way here?

Why, he must himself belong to this infernal society, as she did; that
was it, of course. What an abominable din this was in my head,--worse to
bear than the pain of my wounds. In my head? No, the noise was
outside--shrieks and shouts, and the crackle of rifles. I dragged myself
to a sitting posture and listened. The Duke had said that his tale of
the soldiers was a mere ruse, but certainly there was a fight going on
outside. Were the soldiers there, and had Loris unwittingly spoken the
truth,--or had he himself betrayed the revolutionists as a last
resource? Unanswerable questions, all of them; so why worry about them?
But they kept whirling round maddeningly in my half delirious brain,
while the din still raged without, though it seemed to be abating.

The remaining lamp had flickered out, but sufficient light came now
through