Corsoni dismounted and called a guerrilla to take his horse.
Goldsborough unbuckled the belt that held Elfie to him, and beckoned Mutchison to come and lift her off.
Elfie, who had not spoken since her vain appeal to Corsoni, suffered herself to be removed in silence.
Goldsborough alighted and immediately unbound Elfie’s hands, saying:
“I beg your pardon for having ordered this, my darling, but if I had not done so, I should have lost my scalp and my ears.”
The first use Elfie made of her freed hands was to dash her fists, one after the other, into Goldsborough’s face.
He laughed and dodged the blows, and then took one of Elfie’s hands to draw in his arm and lead her on.
But the enraged girl snatched her hand away, exclaiming:
“Go on! I will follow, since I must. And if I seem to yield now to circumstances, it is only as the tiger crouches for a surer spring! Albert Goldsborough, I will have your life for this!”
“The devotion of my whole life, Elfie,” he answered gravely.