They reached the foot of the hill as Waldron emerged from the tunnel to dash across the fifty-yard space that separated him from the Drive. The yacht was but a hundred yards beyond the road.
The Governor-General formed a hollow square with his faithful guard—Virginia a prisoner within their circle of steel.
Waldron shouted to his men:
“A fortune and a title for every man who fights his way to the water’s edge!”
The guard fired a volley at Vassar’s approaching men and dashed for the roadway at the moment Angela rounded the curve, riding furiously at the head of a company of the Daughters of Jael.
The white-robed girl riders charged straight for their foes. Waldron, taken completely by surprise, raised his automatic to kill Virginia. His finger was pressing the trigger when Angela swept close, thrust a revolver into his face, fired and circled to fire again.
The Governor-General crumpled in his tracks and his men surrendered.
Virginia threw herself into Vassar’s arms.
“I fear I have failed, my love!”
“Your army has not failed, dear heart!” he answered. “You have lifted a fallen nation from the dust!”