'You might have got away, and did not,' said the lawyer, tartly. 'Do you know that the country is being scoured for you--that if you are taken the scrag-boy will make short work of you? You don't care, maybe. Is it nothing to us--to _her?_' 'Perhaps there is still time. Get ye gone by the postern in the rosary. The peasantry are staunch. You might lie in a cabin under the bed-furniture till night, and then steal out to sea under cover of the darkness.' 'If I fall into their hands I will speak my own defence, sir,' murmured Emmett, without moving. 'And much good may it do you--fool!' shouted the enraged councillor. 'Don't stand shilly-shallying here like a great goose. Sara, order him to go. If he's hanged you'll have yourself to thank for it.' Sara took no heed, but lay back, watching the dear youth--as white as wax, like one in a trance. There was a turmoil in the next room, a rustle of silk, an upsetting of chairs, and Mrs. Gillin darted through the doorway. 'Is he gone?' she asked. 'Then it's too late! There's a body of sodgers marching in. They are surrounding the house.' Robert passed his hands through his matted hair. His belief in his star was gone. He was plainly not destined to be a Joshua. He panted to join those who had crossed the rubicon. On the boundary-line of the other life we are apt to plunge into a selfish beatitude, forgetting the trouble which our exit may entail on those whom we leave behind. In a few moments his fate was fixed. The regular tramp of disciplined men was heard on the gravel with a ring of matchlocks. Then a figure darkened the casement. It was Major Sirr demanding admittance. Robert opened the window himself, and the town-major's lambs streamed in. Doreen gave a sharp exclamation of surprise--for one of the group was Cassidy--another, who came forward with arms outstretched, was Terence--safe and sound. The town-major's bushy eyebrows came down upon his nose, as, grinning, he struck Robert on the shoulder. 'Do you recollect, young fellow,' he railed, 'how anxious you twice were to be arrested? I told you then that your turn would come soon enough. It has come now, and I hope you are satisfied, though I fear I shan't keep you long.' Robert Emmett bowed absently, as if he but half-heard, and, kneeling by Sara's chair again, muttered--forgetful of lookers-on: 'Oh, my love--my love. Do we part thus? I hoped to have been a prop, round which your affections might have clung; but a rude blast has snapped it--they have fallen across a grave!' Then, twining her fair hair about his fingers with affectionate regret, he fell a dreaming, whilst Madam Gillin gulped down her sobs. 'I go into my cold and silent tomb,' he whispered, as he stroked the baby-fingers of his mistress. My lamp of life is nearly extinguished; the grave opens to receive me, and I sink into its bosom.'