Now, as I went, I presently espied that for which I had looked —­a gate set in the midst of the hedge, but it was closed, and never did a gate, before or since, appear quite so high and insurmountable; but, with the desperation of despair, I turned, ran at it, and sprang, swinging my arms above my head as I did so.  My foot grazed the top bar—­down I came, slipped, stumbled, regained my balance, and ran on over the springy turf.  I heard a crash behind me, an oath, a second pistol barked, and immediately it seemed that a hot iron seared my forearm, and glancing down, I saw the skin cut and bleeding, but, finding it no worse, breathed a sigh of thankfulness, and ran on.

By that leap I had probably gained some twenty yards; I would nurse my strength, therefore.  If I could once gain the woods!  How far off were they?—­half-a-mile, a mile?—­well, I could run that easily, thanks to my hardy life.  Stay! what was that sound behind me—­the fall of flying feet, or the throbbing of my own heart?  I turned my head; the man Jeremy was within twelve yards of me—­lean and spare, his head thrust forward, he ran with the long, easy stride of a greyhound.

So it was to be a question of endurance?  Well, I had caught my second wind by now.  I set my teeth, and, clenching my fists, lengthened my stride.

And now, indeed, the real struggle began.  My pursuer had long ago abandoned his coat, but his boots were heavier and clumsier than those I wore; but then, again, my confining shackles seemed to contract my chest; and the handcuffs galled my wrists cruelly.

On I went, scattering flocks of scampering sheep, past meditative cows who started up, puffing out snorts of perfume; scrambling through hedges, over gate and stile and ditch, with eyes upon the distant woods full of the purple gloom of evening, and, in my ears, the muffled thud! thud! thud! thud! of the pursuit, sometimes seeming much nearer, and sometimes much farther off, but always the same rhythmic, remorseless thud! thud! thud! thud!

On, and ever on, climbing steep uplands, plunging down precipitous slopes, past brawling brooks and silent pools all red and gold with sunset, past oak and ash and thorn on and on, with ever those thudding footfalls close behind.  And, as we ran, it seemed to me that our feet beat out a kind of cadence—­his heavy shoes, and my lighter ones.

Thud! thud!—­pad! pad!—­thud! thud!—­pad! pad! until they would suddenly become confused, and mingle with each other.

One moment it seemed that I almost loved the fellow, and the next that I bitterly hated him.  Whether I had gained or not, I could not tell; to look back was to lose ground.

The woods were close now, so close that I fancied I heard the voice of their myriad leaves calling to me—­encouraging me.  But my breath was panting thick and short, my stride was less sure, my wrists were raw and bleeding, and the ceaseless jingle of my chain maddened me.