“He swore to me that he had not, but he knows everything, and may carry the word to the authorities,” she interrupted, in distress.

“The secret is safe if he worked alone, for he is dead.  Don’t be frightened; he fell over a cliff in the darkness.  Turk!”

“Here, sir.”

“We must get back to the castle as soon as possible.  It is five miles, at least.  Try to find a trap of some sort at once.  Miss Garrison cannot walk that distance.”

“But I can and will,” she objected.  “I am not hurt and I am stronger than you.”

“Nonsense!  I’m all right.  I will return with you to Brussels to-morrow.  Your imprisonment is at an end.  There is no need for you to think again of escape, for you are free to go at this moment.  Come back to Lady Saxondale for a while, though, and when you are able to go with me we will take the train for Brussels.  Believe me, I am sorry, but I am not fool enough to ask you to forgive.  I don’t deserve pardon, perhaps, but I know that my heart was in the right and that I saved you from a much worse bondage than that which you have spent in Castle Craneycrow.”

As if in a dream, she walked with him through the first faint light of the dawning day, stunned by the unexpected words he had uttered.  In her mind there began to grow, rebelliously, the fear that he would do as he said!  Turk, following close behind, suddenly gave a loud shout and sped away like a flash in front of them.

“It’s Mr. Savage,” he yelled back to the startled couple, “an’ he’s on horseback!  Hi, there!”

As Dickey Savage came plunging up the slope, roaring with excited joy, she said to Ouentin, her voice low and intense: 

“I know now that you saved me from a worse fate than death, Phil, and, if you ask, I will forgive as I hope you will forgive me.  Courant was Ugo’s tool, and I had the truth from him.  You are the truest, the best of friends, and I should—­”

“Stop, Dorothy!  Not now, some day, when you are home, after you have had time to think over all that I have done, right and wrong, I may come to you with the question I will not ask now.  What I have sinned for, if you want to call it that, I will sue for some other day when the world is looking on.  I will not make my prisoner pay penalty without a trial.”

“I want you to know that I do not hate you,” she argued, persistently.

“But you hated me yesterday.”

“I did not.”

Just then Dickey pounced upon them, and, as they hurried to the spot where Turk was holding the newcomer’s horse, Phil briefly told how he and the little ex-burglar had accidentally stumbled upon the hiding-place of the pseudo priest after hours of hopeless search.  The two pursuers, tired and despairing, were lying on the ground in front of the church ruins, taking a few moments of rest before climbing to the summit of the hill, when the luckless Courant ventured forth.  With quick intuition, Turk called out the detective’s name, and the ruse worked.  The man they could not see gave a snort of dismay and turned to reenter the door.  And then came his undoing.