Not so the human beings for whom that moment had been fraught with such startling emotions. Jean's revulsion of feeling was as swift as the impulse which had preceded. Hardly had the pursuit clattered by than she had wrenched herself from Robert's grasp, and with crimson cheeks and haughtily tilted head, taken shelter by Miggles's side. Vanna, still trembling, leant back against the hedge, gazing from side to side. Robert Gloucester turned and walked down the lane, following the line of pursuit. She caught a glimpse of his face as he went--radiant, aglow! At the other man she would not look. Sympathy for his discomfiture and pain withheld her gaze. She knew exactly how Piers Rendall would look at this moment: his eyes brilliantly hard, his lips a-twitch. For her own sake she would not look. She hated to see that twitch. Miggles leant against the hedge, and burst into unrestrained tears. Blessed Miggles, who could always be trusted to come to the rescue! Her sobs, her tears, her simple oblivion to the subject which was engrossing the minds of her companions were the saving of the situation. "Oh, my dear Jean--a bull! A runaway bull! Never in all my life--and to think that to-day, of all others. This narrow lane! Oh dear! Oh dear! Your poor dear father! If you had worn your red dress! It might so easily have happened! Thank God! thank God! Your arm, dear, your arm. I do so tremble! My poor old heart feels as if it would burst. What a Providence! What a Providence!" "What a wicked, wretched man to leave the gate unlocked! I'll ask father to have him discharged at once," cried Jean hotly. "It's wicked, criminal carelessness. We might all have been killed." From the bottom of the hedge crawled the scratched and blackened figures of the two schoolboys. "I say!" gasped Jack, breathless. "What a lark! What a blooming lark!" CHAPTER NINE. TREASURE TROVE! Miggles did not easily recover from her fright. The good body was in precarious health: it was only the power of mind over body which kept her going, and when the motive power was temporarily eclipsed it was startling, even alarming, to behold the corresponding physical change. The light faded from the eyes; the chin dropped; a dozen unsuspected lines furrowed the face; beaming middle-age was transformed in a moment into suffering age. "I think, my dears," she announced apologetically, "so sorry to spoil your walk, but I _think_ I'll go home! Bulls, you know, bulls! They _are_ disconcerting. When you've lived all your life in towns you are not accustomed... I've got a little," she gasped painfully, "stitch in my side! It will soon be gone." The grey hue of her face showed only too plainly the explanation of that stitch. Miggles knew it herself, but, as ever, preferred to make light of her ailments. She leant on Piers's arm, glancing affectionately in his face, and made no objections when Vanna came forward to support her on the other side.