["MY LORD, THERE IS A SHIP COMING ROUND THE BEND!" THE MAN CRIED BREATHLESSLY]
[SHE SAW A MAN'S FINGERS CLOSING ROUND THE BARS]
["HALT!" CAME THE CRY ON THE NIGHT AIR]
THE CALL OF THE NIGHT RIDER
CHAPTER I
THE MAN IN THE MEADOW
As she walked across the meadow, carrying a basket in one hand, and swinging a a dainty blue hood in the other, Margaret Byrckmann made a picture that was pleasing to behold. She looked up as she moved along, but her eyes went down again before the dazzling sun which was setting in a blaze of red splendour, silhouetting the battlemented walls of the city.
She gave this evening beauty scanty attention, for her dark eyes were watching the meadow. Then a cry of pleasure broke from her lips, and she hastened forward; but before she had gone far her face filled with disappointment, and she stopped abruptly.
"I thought it was Herman!" she exclaimed, almost petulantly.
She watched a man who was walking wearily. He looked dusty and wayworn, and the movement on the beaten path seemed to be toilsome and painful. She thought he must have travelled far, for he carried a heavy-looking wallet on his back, and the staff in his hand was used as though it was real labour to go forward.