"There were horses tethered in the cave," she whispered. "It was pitch black: I could see nothing. I must have crawled beneath their very feet, and one struck his hoof out in the darkness and kicked this arm. Then, by a merciful providence, I was enabled to turn aside out of the range of their hoofs. Oh, I cannot tell you, Ronald, how terrible it was, creeping through that fearful place."
"You were in the very den of the outlaws," he exclaimed.
"Yes," she answered, with a shudder.
"And you escaped from them, my brave little girl!" he cried. "Oh, thank God, you were saved from the vindictive power of that man! Lina, I cannot rest easy one moment now until I have the right to watch over every moment of your life. I must take you far away from here."
She trembled at the passionate dread in his voice, then rallied bravely.
"Do not fear for me," she said. "He will not molest me again, Ronald."
But Ronald shook his head.
"I shall never know one moment's peace until you are my own," he said. "Lina, I shall send for the minister to-night, and you shall be my wife without one moment's delay. You are willing, are you not, my little love?"
The girl clasped her small, bruised hands together, and her pale face grew paler still with anguish.