"The Evil One himself," I answered slowly.
"Aye, sure, or you had killed a dozen such as he wi' that." He pointed to my sword.
I nodded, then asked:
"How long have I been here?"
"Mebbe the quarter of an hour."
"Ah! so long? And which way ran this villain?"
"Ran? 'Twere no running, zur," replied Dan Ratlaw. "He flew! Yea, as I live, he sailed above yon bushes like a bat. And may I be clean drownded, zur," he added in an awful whisper, "if blazing fire did not drop from en as he flew."
I understood. Ammon had shed gold in flight.
"But which way did he go?" I asked again.
"Straight for The Havering yonder," answered Rat, "and like enough he'll be a-perching on the roof of it."