in front of him tried to ride on in advance, and leave the other two to deal with the baron, but the young actress struggled so violently on the horse’s neck, and kept clutching so persistently at the bridle, that his rider could not urge him to his greatest speed.  Meantime de Sigognac was steadily gaining upon them; without slackening his pace he had managed to draw his sword from the scabbard, and brandished it aloft, ready for action, as he ran.  It is true that he was one against three—­that he was on foot while they were on horseback—­but he had not time to consider the odds against him, and he seemed possessed of the strength of a giant in Isabelle’s behalf.  Making a prodigious effort, he suddenly increased his speed, and coming up with the two horsemen, who were a little behind the other one, quickly disposed of them, by vigorously pricking their horses’ flanks with the point of his sword; for, what with fright and pain, the animals, after plunging violently, threw off all restraint and bolted—­dashing off across country as if the devil were after them, and carrying their riders with them, just as de Sigognac had expected and intended that they should do.  The brave young baron was nearly spent—­panting, almost sobbing, as he struggled desperately on—­feeling as if his heart would burst at every agonizing throb; but he was indued with supernatural strength and endurance, and as Isabelle’s voice reached his ear calling, “Help, de Sigognac, help!” he cleared with a bound the space that separated them, and leaping up to catch the broad leathern strap that was passed round her and her captor, answered in a hoarse, shrill tone, “I am here.”  Clinging to the strap, he ran along beside the galloping horse—­like the grooms that the Romans called desultores—­and strove with all his might to pull the rider down out of his saddle.  He did not dare to use his sword to disable him, as they struggled together, lest he should wound Isabelle also; and, meantime, the man on horseback was trying his utmost to shake off his fierce assailant-unsuccessfully, because he had both hands fully occupied with his horse and his captive, who was doing all she could to slip from his grasp, and throw herself into her lover’s arms.  Loosing his hold on the rein for a second, the horseman managed to draw a knife from his girdle, and with one blow severed the strap to which the baron was clinging; then, driving his spurs into the horse’s sides made the frightened animal spring suddenly forward, while de Sigognac—­who was not prepared for this emergency, and found himself deprived of all support—­fell violently upon his back in the road.  He was up again in an instant, and flying after Isabelle, who was now being borne rapidly away from him, and whose cries for help came more and more faintly to his ear; but the moment he had lost made his pursuit hopeless, and he knew that it was all in vain when he saw her disappear behind the thicket her ravisher had been aiming for from the