The bags fell heavily to the ground, and of one of them the canvas burst open and scattered the contents on the ground. Ruis would have fallen too, but with one steadying hand she held him on the saddle, and with the other unwound her scarlet sash. In a moment's time she had tied him fast; then she gave the affrighted horse a blow and stepped aside. And as she did so the horse veered and rushed up the road, bearing the lifeless Ruis, bound as Mazeppa was, with the dagger still in his heart, to the father who waited his return. For a little space she listened to the sound of retreating hoofs. She was trembling still. On the porch the old woman had tottered out. "What was it?" she asked. "Death." "_Ave Maria purissima!_" croned the hag. And the girl, turning her back to the darkness in which the horse had vanished, answered, as is the custom, "Who conceived without sin." Fausta re-entered the house, but her mother loitered on the porch. The next morning the gold had disappeared. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THE PACE THAT KILLS. A TRANSACTION IN HEARTS. EDEN. THE TRUTH ABOUT TRISTREM VARICK. MR. INCOUL'S MISADVENTURE. THE ANATOMY OF NEGATION. THE PHILOSOPHY OF DISENCHANTMENT.