"Forward, Ben!" I said, and the horse gave a great leap, leaving himself at liberty. But this was only for a moment. Another man had leaped forward, and brought the horse to his haunches. "We've got them!" he cried. "Help! help!" My sword hand was by this time free, and I brought my weapon down upon the man's head. The blade turned in my hand, or I must have cleaved his skull with the blow. But I think he must have worn a steel cap, for although he fell, I knew I had not killed him. "Let me guide your horse, then will your right arm be free, I know the road," cried Constance; and she took the reins, heedless of the cries we heard, and a few seconds later we were in a lonely lane. "Towards London!" I said, as she hesitated which way to turn, and then a bullet passed so close to me that it e'en shaved my ear, and to this day my right ear is not perfect as my left ear is. It was no longer a fight. It had now become a race. We had much against us, seeing we both sat on one horse; but we had much for us also, seeing that Black Ben had the strength of two horses, and bore us as though we were feathers. Nevertheless, I knew we could not ride to my father's house in this fashion, and even then I remember wondering how I was to get a steed for my love. I quickly discovered that there were two horses following us, but whether they gained on us I could not tell; sometimes I thought they did, and again I fancied otherwise; but, in any case, we had happened upon a dangerous time, for more than once I heard a pistol shot, even although neither of us was harmed. "They are gaining on us," I said presently. "But only one, Roland." "That is true," I said with a laugh, for now that I had my love by my side I cared not one whit for danger; neither did I feel my weakness, as I had feared I should. In truth, my strength had come back to me wondrously. Black Ben dashed on at a fine speed as soon as we gained the highway, but I knew that if our pursuers were well mounted we must in time be overtaken, for I was never a light man, and must have weighed nine score pounds even then; while Constance, as I have before stated, was no slender slip of a maid, but well grown and finely proportioned. However good a horse may be, he cannot carry two as easily as one, and thus, as one of our pursuers gained upon us, I had to think of what we were to do. "I have a plan," I said presently. "What, Roland?" "We will presently let the man close behind us come up to us. I will unhorse him, and then you shall take his place. There is only one thing against that." "What is that?" she asked eagerly. "Only that a man's saddle will be on the nag's back, and it will look strange for a maid to be riding on a man's saddle." I felt her laughing as I spoke, at the which I wondered. "Why do you laugh?" I asked. "Because I am afraid I should look more strange on a woman's saddle than a man's," she replied.