"I'll wager my head Bracken is saying hard things for fair down the river there."
"He—he—doesn't swear, Jack," she panted.
"Why, you are ready to drop! Can't you go a step farther? Let's stop here and face 'em. I'll bluff 'em out and we'll get to Bracken's some way. But I won't give up the game! Not for a million!"
"Then we can't stop. You forget I go in for gymnasium work. I'm as strong as anything, only I'm—I'm a bit nervous. Oh, I knew something would go wrong!" she wailed. They were now standing like trapped deer in a little thicket, listening for sounds of the hounds.
"Are you sorry, dear?"
"No, no! I love you, Jack, and I'll go through everything with you and for you. Really," she cried with a fine show of enthusiasm, "this is jolly good fun, isn't it? Being chased like regular bandits—"
"Sh! Drop down, dear! There's somebody passing above us—hear him?"
They crawled into a maze of hazel bushes with much less dignity than haste. Two men sped by an instant later, panting and growling.