realize that Myra's message meant the hangman's rope for him. He turned
again in bed, and sat up. Were the officers of the law waiting for him?

"Ezy air home," resumed Myra rapidly, leaning tensely toward him. "He
walked through the rain from Ithacy. He says as how ye air goin' to be
tooked to prison. I has the brat here with me ... we air a-goin'
away.... Get up, Ben. Hustle yer bones!"

The blue-jeans breeches, streaked with the blood of many a fish, were
drawn on in a twinkling. The great squatter boots quickly covered the
horny feet, and trembling, Ben waited for Myra to lead him from the
cabin.

"Where be we a-goin'?" he asked in a whisper.

"I takes ye 'cross the lake to Ludlowville, and then we goes into the
hills. A awful storm air a-scootin' along from the north, but we can't
wait, for ye'll be took."

By this time they were nearing the shore. The autumn lightning shot out
from the sky, veering to the north and unmasking the black, raging lake
and the distant city. A heavy roll of awe-inspiring thunder followed the
flash. The man and woman did not speak until the flat boat topped the
breaking waves.

"The storm air a-goin' to be worse," shouted Ben, scanning the dark
clouds. "It air foolhardy to try it, ain't it, Myry?"

"Yep; but we go, all the same. I stays with ye, Ben!"

He did not answer to this, nor did he ask a question then about the
return of Ezra. He was satisfied that what he had supposed was the boy's
wraith--the disembodied spirit of the lad he had thrown into the
Hoghole--was the living Ezra Longman. On his way home from the Skinner
hut, Ben had planned a terrible revenge upon the student and Tessibel,
but the advent of this unforeseen discovery had placed his enemies
beyond his reach. The thought of Tess brought a rasp from his throat.

The creaking oars, under his experienced fingers, carried the boat far
from the shadowy shore. Through the frequent lightning he could plainly
see Myra in the stern, holding to the child. It was all ending
differently from what he had hoped. That he had killed the gamekeeper he
knew well, but, when Ezra Longman had disappeared into the Hoghole, Ben
thought it took from the earth the only witness of his deed.

On and on through the night sped the boat, until Myra and Ben could see
the lights on the college hill. Here and there in the valley beyond, the
lightning revealed a farmhouse, the inmates of which were quietly
sleeping.

Presently Ben spoke: