VII. CAPTAIN DANVERS.
|I hope you have lost nothing, ladies?” cried the stranger.
“The robbers have taken, my purse,” replied Mrs. Calverley; “and but for your timely aid, they would have carried off all our ornaments.”
“My chain is gone,” said Mildred. “But I don't mind it. They did not get my watch, which I value extremely. I owe its preservation entirely to you, sir,” she added, with a grateful look at the stranger.
“I am happy to find I have been of any service to you,” he replied, bowing. “Follow the rascals, Tom,” he added to his groom, “and try to capture one or both of them.”
“Impossible, I fear, captain,” replied the groom. “They can go where no horse can go in that marsh, if they know the ground, as they seem to do. But I'll do my best.”
And he speeded after the fugitives, who were still in sight.
“Hold the reins for a minute, Mildred, while I pick up my whip,” said Mrs. Calverley.
“Allow me!” cried the stranger.