"Madam, you are pursued."
"Pursued!" Both at once looked back.
"There's time," said Steadfast; "but Smith Hopkins said one of the shoes was Worcester make, and he is gone to fetch the constable and raise the hue-and-cry."
"And you are a loyal—I mean an honest lad—come to warn us," said the groom.
"Yes, sir. I think, if you will trust me, they can be put off the track."
"Trusty! Your face answers for you. Eh, fair Mistress Jane?"
"Sir, it must be as you will."
"This way then, sir," said Steadfast, who was off his own horse by this time, and leading it into a rough track through a thicket whence some timber had been drawn out in the summer.
"They will see where we turned off," whispered the lady.
"No, ma'am, not unless you get off the hard ground. Besides they will go on the way to Breakneck Hill. Hark! I hear a hallooing. Not near—no—no fear, madam."