They, meanwhile, were working quickly; they bound his legs together, his arms to his side. They forced a gag into his mouth, and then lastly shut off his view of the wildly shrieking girl by tying a handkerchief about his eyes. And then they tumbled him to the ground and turned away and left him.
Mary Adams stayed behind them a moment to vent her fury upon the helpless prisoner.
"Satisfied!" she cried. "How do you like it? I told you I would have revenge. I told you I hated you! And now, and now it is mine! You are mine, too! Do you hear me? I can do what I please with you!"
Mark could not see her, but he felt a stinging pain in his cheek and he felt the warm blood flow.
The girl's sharp heel had cut his flesh. And a moment later he heard a low voice mutter:
"Come away, you fool! Come on."
They dragged her reluctantly with them. Mark heard the steps recede into the distance, heard the silence settling down about the place. They had left him alone, deserted and helpless, lost in the midst of the woods, left him to die for all he knew, certainly to be missed, to be expelled, to be ruined.
And the poor fellow groaned within him as he realized the triumph of his enemies.