The body from the north was large, was
forcing a hot gallop, and much noise and shouting came from the troopers.
It was plain that we were in for it. The men from Newcastle were no doubt
coming north as a reinforcement, but it was absurd to suppose that they
had not been told of our doings and of our escape northwards. They had not
overtaken us, and we must be on the road somewhere. The men from the north
had not met us. Never since the world began had two and two been easier to
put together. There was only one place for us to be in and this was it. A
short parley, a glance our way, and an overwhelming force would dash at
the picket of pines.
The bare road lay there in the moonlight, half a mile of it in clear view
on either hand. The two bodies came in sight within a few seconds of each
other, and the Colonel snapped his fingers and chuckled.
From the north a wild rush of spurring, flogging, shouting, cursing
horsemen, about a hundred of them. No order, no discipline, no soldiership
--nothing but mad haste and madder fear.
The mare began to plunge, and the Colonel, leaping off, nearly strangled
her in the coat.
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