"We must get her home," said Adèle.
"Yes; I will find a man to lead the coach. You will not mind my going: Mynheer Grootz is wounded two miles away."
"Oh, Monsieur Harry, go then at once. I can take care of Mother."
Harry ran back to the road to find Sherebiah, who in his absence had made an examination of the ground with the aid of the carriage lamp. Polignac was stone dead; his body lay at the very brink of the canal. There was no sign of Aglionby or of the other two men, though traces of blood were found on the spot where the captain had fallen. Of the house party two men were badly wounded; these Harry despatched to the house for ministration while himself with Sherebiah hurried back at full speed to Mynheer Grootz. The coach stood undisturbed where they had left it. Grootz lay on the seat, conscious but very weak.
"Well?" he said, as they appeared.
"Well, thank God!" replied Harry. "The ladies are safe, Polignac is dead, Aglionby and the rest have fled."
"Zo!"
Quite content, the merchant said no more. He was taken at a walking pace to Lindendaal.
CHAPTER XXV
A Bundle of Letters