Janice staggered up, though somewhat languidly. "May--
"Did he ask to see me?"

"Not he," she was told. "Come, lass, sit quiet for a bit
till thy head is steady, and tell us what 't was all about."

Janice sank into the chair her father set beside the fire.
"He was on some mission for his Excellency," she gasped, "and
stopped here to get a fresh horse--that was how I came to
know it--and while we were talking we heard the dragoons coming,
so he mounted, to escape. Then I heard a cry--oh! such
a cry--and the pistols--and--and--that 's all I remember."

"Why went he to the stable rather than to the house in the
first case?" demanded her father.

Janice looked surprised. "He knew the troopers were
here," she explained.

The squire was about to speak, when Clowes' hand on his
shoulder checked him. "There's more here than we understand,"
the latter whispered. "Let me ask the questions."
He came to the fire and said:--

"Why did he take this route, if he was bearing despatches?"

The first sign of colour came creeping back into the pale
cheeks of the girl, as she recalled the double motive the aide
had given. "Colonel Brereton said he did not know the
westerly roads, and so--"