Bidding her stay a moment while I reconnoitred, I scrambled warily up till my head was just enough above ground to look about. All seemed safe, so pulling myself out of the hole, I lifted my companion after me, and we set off for the place where the carriage was waiting.
As we came in sight of Strode he waved his hand joyfully.
“This is better than I dared to hope,” was his excited greeting.
The girl gave him a grateful nod and smile—there was no time for words as we hurried into the carriage—the good fellow sprang up and set his horses going as fast as he dared down the bumpy lane. In ten minutes, however, the jolting ceased; we had struck the high road, along which we began to bolt at a rare pace.
I now had time to notice that my companion was evidently feeling the unusual exertions and excitement she had just gone through. She lay back half-fainting. I hastily opened a flask of wine; this revived her. She was a plucky girl, and in a few minutes had so far recovered as to be able to laugh at her weakness and begin to chat.
“I was in the Monastery again last night,” I said.
“Again! Why did you come?” she asked.
“I could not keep away. The feeling that you were in such danger was too strong for me, and I wanted, in case of accidents, to show Strode the way.”
Perhaps she felt intuitively that there had been a more strongly impelling reason behind the others. Anyhow her look was more than grateful as she said:
“It was rash of you to venture again. If I had known you were there I should have been terribly anxious. For they took me away to a distant part of the building.”