thrown the key into the
moat," Rupert said. "The gate is a solid one, and they will not get
it open tonight. If they are to pursue us, they must go round to
one of the other gates, and then make a circuit to get into this
road again. I have locked the porter up, and I don't suppose they
will find it out till they ride up, half an hour hence. They will
try for another quarter of an hour to open the gate, and it will be
another good half-hour's ride to get round by the road, so we have
over one hour's start."

"Capital, indeed," the marquis said, as they galloped forward. "The
dangers you have gone through have made you quick witted indeed,
Rupert.

"I see you have changed saddles."

"Yes, your horse had been carrying double all day, so I thought it
better to give a turn to the other. It is fortunate that we have
been making short journeys each day, and that our horses are
comparatively fresh."

"Why did you come out by the west gate, Rupert? The north was our
way."

"Yes, our direct way," Rupert said; "but I was thinking it over
while waiting for you. You see with the start we have got and good
horses, we might have kept ahead of them for a day; but with one
horse carrying double, there is no chance of us doing so for eighty
miles. We must hide up somewhere to let the horses rest. They would
make sure that we were going to take ship, and would be certain to
send on straight to Nantes, so that we should be arrested when we
arrive there.

"As it is we can follow this road for thirty miles, as if going to
La Rochelle, and then strike up for a forty miles ride across to
Nantes."

"Well thought of, indeed," Monsieur de Pignerolles said.

"Adele, this future lord and master of yours is as long headed as
he is long limbed."

Adele laughed happily. The excitement, and the fresh air and the
brisk pace, had raised her spirits; and with her father and lover
to protect her, she had no fear of the danger that threatened them.

"With a ten miles start they ought not to overtake us till morning,
Rupert."

"No," Rupert said, "supposing that we could keep on, but we cannot.
The horses have done twenty-five miles today. They have had an hour
and a half's rest, but we must not do more than as much farther, or
we shall run the risk of knocking them up."

So they rode on at a fast trot for three hours.

"Here is a little road to the right," Rupert said. "Let us ride up
there, and stop at the first house we come to."

It