"Heinrich," said Margaret, taking him by the hand, "in God's dear mercy you have been our deliverer. We owe so much to you—our lives, I doubt not, and our liberty."
He stood and gazed at her in happy laughter.
"'Twas God who made me your helper," he said, his voice thrilling with gladness. "But you must be gone. Yonder is the forest, and the forester knows it well. He can lead you there ten times better than I. Now I am going back to my mother, for if Cochlaeus has bought those vaults he will not fail to find his way into our home. We must find another. Perhaps they will suffer us to live in this house we have just left."
"God speed you!" he exclaimed, careless of the wind and rain, and holding out his hand to each of them in turn, but keeping Margaret for the last. When she gave him hers, he drew off her glove and covered the hand with kisses, not heeding how the rain came like pellets on his uncovered head. She knew not whether the drops which fell on her hand were rain or tears.
"Good-bye, Heinrich," she said, almost weeping. "I shall never forget. Oh, never! I shall never fail to remember how you were ready to give your life for mine."
She made him glad almost to delirium when she put up her hands and drew his wet face to hers, and kissed him on both cheeks. He hurried away to the wall with happy laughter, and when he had climbed up the rope and they knew that he was safe within the house, Engel took Margaret's mother in his arms, and the little company walked on into the dark forest.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE NIGHT RIDE IN THE FOREST
Once within the shelter of the forest, Engel placed Margaret's mother carefully at the root of one of the giant oaks and on the sheltered side, so that neither wind nor rain could harm her.
"We will wait here a little while," he said quietly, "and that will give you time to recover a bit from all the exertion and pain to which our adventures have put you, Mistress Byrckmann."