He paused instinctively, for he had remembered his conversation with John Stich earlier in the day; he remembered the anger, the wonder, which he had felt when the smith told him that he had entrusted the precious letter for Lady Patience to Beau Brocade, the highwayman ... "Then you are...?" repeated Philip, mechanically. Patience was clinging to her brother, with her back towards the stranger, so she did not see the swift look of appeal the slender finger put up in a mute, earnest prayer for silence. But now she turned and looked inquiringly at him, her eyes asking for a name by which she could remember him. "Captain Jack Bathurst," he said, bowing low, "at your command." CHAPTER XII THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE ROSE But of course there was no time to be lost. Captain Jack Bathurst was the first to give the alarm. "Those gallant lobsters won’t be long in finding out that they’ve been hoodwinked," he said, "an I mistake not, they’ll return here anon with a temper slightly the worse for wear. They must not find your lordship here at anyrate," he added earnestly. "But what’s to be done?" asked Patience, all her anxiety returning in a trice, and instinctively turning for guidance to the man who already had done so much for her. "For the next hour or two at anyrate his lordship would undoubtedly be safer on the open Moor," said Bathurst, decisively. "’Tis nigh on sunset, and the shepherds are busy gathering in their flocks. There’ll be no one about, and ’twould be safer." "On the open Moor?" "Aye! ’tis not a bad place," he said, with a touch of sadness in his fresh young voice. "I myself..." He checked himself and continued more quietly,— "Your lordship could return here after sundown. You’d be safe enough for the night. After that, an you’ll grant me leave, my friend Stich and I will venture to devise some better plan for your safety. For the moment, I pray you, be guided by this good advice, and seek the protection of the open Moor." He had spoken so earnestly, with such obvious heartfelt concern, and at the same time with such quiet firmness, that instinctively Philip felt inclined to obey; the weaker nature turned for support to the stronger one, to whose dominating influence it felt compelled to yield. He turned to Patience, and her eyes seemed to tell him that she was ready to trust this stranger. "Aye! I’ll go, sir!" he sighed wearily. He kissed his sister with all the fondness of his aching heart. All his hopes for the future were centred in her and in the long journey she was about to undertake for his sake.