"Now go." He pressed the back of her hand to his lips, and released it.
"Can I do nothing?" she asked, with a hard sob.
"Yes . . . 'tis unlucky, they say, to accept a knife without paying for it. One kiss. . . . You may tell Noll. Is it too high a price?"
She knelt and kissed him on the brow.
"Ah! . . ." He drew a long sigh. "I have held you to-day, and to-day you have kissed me. Go now."
She went. The dog ran with her a little way, then turned and crept back to its master.
Chapter V.
THE FINDING.
"Hola!" hailed a man, signalling by a brazier with his back to the wind. "For what are you seeking?"
Ruth halted, gripping her stiletto. This man might help her, perhaps. At any rate, he seemed a cool-headed fellow who made the best of things.