The dwarf's stick fell from his hand. "God's mercy in Heaven!" he cried in a whisper, as he took off his hat slowly, "Miss Ashton!"
Then, bareheaded and without his stick, he went up to the side of her horse, and said in a hoarse whisper, "I will have nothing to do with that Miracle Gold!"
A groom who had dismounted handed him his stick, and putting on his hat, he hastened away through the crowd which had begun to gather, leaving Dora in a state of mingled alarm and pity.
"Is he mad?" said Sir Julius Whinfield as the dwarf disappeared and the equestrians moved on.
"I'm sure I don't know. I think not. For a moment he terrified me, and now he breaks my heart!"
"Breaks your heart?"
"Oh, he ought not to be human! There surely can be no woe like his!"
CHAPTER XXX.
[DORA ASHTON ALONE.]
Dora Ashton was greatly shocked and distressed by the peril of Oscar Leigh and his subsequent behaviour.