And yet at this supreme moment in their lives—supreme though they themselves knew it not—neither of them had begun to think of love. In her there was just that delightful feeling of feminine curiosity, mingled with the subtle homage of a proud woman for the man who, in her presence, and for her sake, had proved himself brave, resourceful, full of invention and of pluck: there was also an unexplainable sense of the magnetism caused by the real _personality_, by the unmistakable _vitality_ of the man. He lived, he felt, he thought differently to anyone else, in a world quite apart and entirely his own, and she felt the magic of this sunny nature, of the merry, almost boyish laugh, overlying as it were the undercurrent of disappointment and melancholy which had never degenerated into cynicism. But in him? Ah! in him there was above all a wild, passionate longing! the longing of an intensely human, aching heart, when it is brought nigh to its own highest ideal, and knows that that ideal is infinitely beyond his reach. The broken-down gentleman! the notorious hero of midnight adventures! highwayman! robber! thief! what right had he even to look upon her, the perfect embodiment of exquisite womanhood, the beautiful realisation of man’s tenderest dreams? Perhaps at this one supreme moment in his reckless career the wild adventurer felt the first pang of humbled pride, of that pride which had defied existing laws and built up a code of its own. He understood then all at once the stern, iron-bound rule which makes of man—free lord of creation though he be—the slave of those same laws which he himself has set up for his own protection. Beau Brocade, the highwayman, closed his eyes, and no longer dared to look on his dream. He turned to his horse, and with great tenderness began stroking Jack o’ Lantern’s soft, responsive nose. The next moment Stich, who had been busy with his work, looked up in sudden alarm. "The soldiers!" he said briefly, "all running ... the Sergeant’s at the head o’ them, and some of the shepherds at their heels." At first Patience did not understand where the actual danger lay. "My brother!" she gasped, terrified. But a look from Bathurst reassured her. "Absolutely safe," he said quickly and decisively, "a hiding-place known to no one but me. I give your ladyship my word of honour that there is not the remotest danger for him." She felt all her terrors vanishing. But these few words spoken to comfort her went nigh to costing Bathurst dear. In those few brief seconds he had lost the opportunity of jumping on Jack o’ Lantern’s back and getting well away before the soldiers had reached the entrance of the forge, and had effectually barred his chance of escape. As it was, he had only just undone the halter, and before he had time to lead Jack o’ Lantern out, the voice of the Sergeant was heard quite close to the doorway, shouting breathlessly,— "Forward! quick! Arrest that man!"