“Look quick, Clynch!” shouted Ekiel, in a warning voice.
“Give me the watch without more ado!” cried the gipsy to Mildred.
But she spread her hands over it, and redoubled her outcries.
“Here, take my purse and begone!” said Mrs. Calverley.
“Thank ye, my lady,” rejoined Clynch, quickly appropriating the purse. “But that's not enough. We must have everything you've got about you!”
“You shall have nothing more, fellow!” cried Mrs. Calverley, with great spirit. “And see! assistance is at hand! If you stay a minute longer you will be caught!”
And, as she spoke, a gentleman was seen galloping towards them, followed by a groom.
Baulked of their prey, the gipsies ran off, and made for the morass, with the intricacies of which they seemed well acquainted.
A minute or so afterwards their deliverer came up. A fine-looking young man, between twenty and thirty, and having decidedly a military air, but a stranger to them both.