"But who are they? and where?" demands the agent, completely taken aback.
"I can tell you no more; I will not; and you must never ask me. It is enough that I speak the truth, and that I have been able to save your life."
"How can I thank you?" says Maxwell, "for all——"
"Some other day you can do that. Now go," says Mona, imperiously, waving her hand.
But Maxwell still lingers, looking first at her and then very intently at her companion.
"It is late," he says. "You should be at home, child. Who am I, that you should do me so great a service?" Then, turning quietly to Rodney, "I have not the pleasure of your acquaintance, sir," he says, gravely; "but I entreat you to take Miss Scully safely back to the Farm without delay."
"You may depend upon me," says Rodney, lifting his hat, and respecting the elder man's care for the well-being of his beloved, even in the midst of his own immediate danger. Then, in another moment, Maxwell has turned his horse's head, and is soon out of sight.
The whole scene is at an end. A life has been saved. And they two, Mona and Geoffrey, are once more alone beneath the "earnest stars."
"Take me down," says Mona, wearily, turning to her lover, as the last faint ring of the horse's feet dies out on the breeze.
"You are tired," says he, tenderly.