You see with the start we have got and good
horses, we might have kept ahead of them for a day; but with one
horse carrying double, there is no chance of us doing so for eighty
miles. We must hide up somewhere to let the horses rest. They would
make sure that we were going to take ship, and would be certain to
send on straight to Nantes, so that we should be arrested when we
arrive there.
"As it is we can follow this road for thirty miles, as if going to
La Rochelle, and then strike up for a forty miles ride across to
Nantes."
"Well thought of, indeed," Monsieur de Pignerolles said.
"Adele, this future lord and master of yours is as long headed as
he is long limbed."
Adele laughed happily. The excitement, and the fresh air and the
brisk pace, had raised her spirits; and with her father and lover
to protect her, she had no fear of the danger that threatened them.
"With a ten miles start they ought not to overtake us till morning,
Rupert."
"No," Rupert said, "supposing that we could keep on, but we cannot.
The horses have done twenty-five miles today. They have had an hour
and a half's rest, but we must not do more than as much farther, or
we shall run the risk of knocking them up."
So they rode on at a fast trot for three hours.
"Here is a little road to the right," Rupert said. "Let us ride up
there, and stop at the first house we come to."
It was a mere byroad, and as once out of the main road they were
for the present safe from pursuit, they now suffered the horses to
break into a walk.
Pages:
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362