I turned. I was as much in the hands of Fate as ever was any man alive. This time I did not run but kept on at a steady gait. At every step I was in expectation of some fresh attack, to be confronted by one of the two men who had assailed me, or by a knife darting through the air, or even by an arrow. But to my surprise the woods were as calm as when I first entered them. The rain dripped slowly from the overhanging branches and the light wind fanned and cooled my heated cheeks. I was soon past the place where I had met my first foe. To my imagination it was like a tale I had heard of a superstitious person’s passing a place haunted by a ghost. My eyes were on the alert. At any second I expected a fresh attack. I thought I heard a low groan. I let the thought pass as though it were the promptings of fear. Then I heard it again and with it some words that I could not understand. I looked about and there to my amazement I saw the fellow who had first threatened me with his back to a tree. A strong cord held his wrists tied together, while another wrapped around his body held him firmly fastened against the trunk. At the sight of me he cleared his throat. “Come here!” he commanded. “What do you want?” I asked. “Will you loose these bonds?” he said. “I know when I’m safe,” I replied. “I’ll do nothing of the kind.” He growled something under his breath. “If you do,” he went on half coaxingly and half in a threat, “I’ll tell you a story that’s worth while.” “You’ve told me enough already,” said I, and started on my way. But he was insistent. “Wait,” he commanded once more. “Will you give me a mouthful of water, then?” “There’s enough dripping from the trees,” I shot back at him. “Turn your face up and you’ll easily slacken your thirst.” He growled deeper than before but he realized that I was not to be taken as lightly as he thought. I went on. There was no more interruption. The fellow with the wounded hand might have been lurking somewhere in the neighborhood. He might even be standing behind a tree. But as far as I was concerned, he did not appear and in quicker time than I had come in, I was out of the woods and on the road that led in a roundabout way to my home.