"Strange that I have never chanced to see you ride him," she said. "I recognised at once the brown mare and the two chestnuts, and the bay with a white star, but this one I have never seen."
"No, I never hunt Seagull," he answered thoughtfully. "I owe him my life not once, but over and over again."
"Seagull!" exclaimed Betty. "Is not that the name of Wild Jack's famous white horse?"
"Yes, he was named after him. I bethought myself that my Seagull was as noble an animal as Wild Jack's."
"I am sure that he has not his equal in the wide world!" cried Betty.
John Johnstone turned suddenly to her and said: "Do you still keep up your interest in that poor sinner Wild Jack, sweet Bet? or has it died away in your gentle breast?"
"I shall never forget our first, and (heaven grant) our last interview," she answered with a smile. "How he justified my trust in him!"
"Poor Jack," said John Johnstone thoughtfully. "I knew Jack well once; you were right to have faith in him. He has done good service to the Cause. Look you, dear, he never took purse or papers on the king's highway, but in the king's name who is over the seas; he never injured woman or shot an unnecessary shot—keep your sympathy with Jack. And now," he said, throwing back his head with an odd look of defiance and pride—"now there is a reward of five hundred pounds offered for Wild Jack's body living or dead. They place a high price on the head of one, whom, to his honour, they dub traitor as well as highwayman!"
"Five hundred pounds," said Betty. "Alas! the reward is tempting."
"He has escaped so often from their very midst, has more than once been prisoner, has often baffled his swiftest pursuers. Next time Wild Jack is taken, his shrift will be short, I warrant."