Deck Lyon rushed furiously down the lane which connected the two roads at this point. It was dark, and it was in vain that he tried to understand the situation from anything he could see. He was sure that the main body of the ruffians were not in the cross-cut, for there was not room enough for them. He had to depend chiefly upon his ears for information, for the trees on one side of the passage obscured his way. The first sound that attracted his attention as he advanced, above the general din, was a half-suppressed scream quite near him. The lane was so rough that he was obliged to move more slowly than when he had left the wagon, and he halted when he heard the cry. A moment later he discovered a man bearing a form in his arms, whose cries he was evidently trying to suppress with one of his hands placed over her mouth. An opening in the grove enabled him to see so much, and to note the position of the ruffian. With his revolver in his hand he rushed forward; and, finding himself behind the assailant of the female, he threw himself upon him, and grasped him by the throat with both hands. He had done some of this kind of work at the schoolhouse in the evening, and the experience was useful to him. He compelled the villain to release his hold upon his prisoner in order to defend himself. Deck wrenched and twisted him in an effort to throw him down, but his arms were not strong enough to accomplish his purpose, and he called upon Mose to assist him. The faithful servant was close by him; and perhaps he was desirous of striking a literal blow in defence of his young master, for he delivered one squarely on the head of the ruffian which knocked him six feet from the spot. At this moment, and just as the captor of the lady went over backwards into a hole by the side of the cart-path, a bright light was flashed upon the scene, and Deck could see where he was and where the ruffian he had encountered was. When Clinker had secured the horses at the end of the lane, he realized the necessity of more light on the subject before the party; for though he heard much he saw little. Taking a quantity of the hay from the wagon, he hastened to the scene of the conflict just as Deck had closed with the ruffian who was bearing the lady away. Putting it on the ground, he lighted it with a match, and then heaped on sticks and hits of board and plank scattered about by those who had loaded stone in the passage. The blaze revealed the entire situation to Deck and his companions, and it made a weird picture. "Good, Clinker!" shouted Deck, as he saw the blacksmith standing with his musket in his hand, busy doing what he had undertaken. "Keep the fire up!"