"Fool!" he apostrophized himself. "Blind fool!" and, stopping instantly, caught her up in his arms just as the lane hove in sight, and throwing her across his shoulder, took the added burden in his best athletic fashion, and ran. CHAPTER XXV THE MAN IN THE BLACK MASK They reached the motor only just in the nick of time, for already the darkness behind them was rent with cries of "There they are! Head them off!--there they are!" making the night hideous with the noise of them, and the stampede of feet seemed to grow more dense with every minute. Cleek flung his unconscious burden in the car, leaped in after it, and tapped the chauffeur upon the shoulder. "Extinguish your lamps and make for Aygon Castle--as quick as you can!" he gave out in the sharp staccato of excitement. "And the quicker the better! There's trouble here, and if those men catch up with us to-night I'll not answer for the lady's safety." "Yessir." Then with a whizz and a whirr the car was off, rocketing down the lane and taking the corners upon two wheels, so that Cleek had hardly a breath left in his body, and the rush of air that swept them as they sped away began to revive the unconscious form of Catherine Dowd who lay upon the seat beside him. A drop of brandy, rather uncertainly administered because of the darkness and the jolting of the car, revived her still more, and in another moment she had opened her eyes and let them dwell upon his face. In the darkness they glowed like two lamps. And her face was very frightened. "My God! Not Ross!" she broke out uncertainly, shutting her hands together across her breast in her agitation. "Then--who are you?" "Who knows?" he responded with a touch of gallantry. "It was your mistake in the first place, remember, not mine. A friend in need, perhaps, who has been able to save you from the consequences of a very foolish action. You know what those men were doing?" She shook her head dumbly. "Then you will learn to-morrow from the lips of a man whom you have learned to distrust, because he has proved more than a match for you already. That is so, isn't it? Your Mr. Deland up at the Castle. From what I heard, you have broken parole, and to do that----" "You won't tell?--oh, surely you won't tell!" she gave out in a low, wrung voice. "How you could mimic Ross Duggan as you did is beyond me. But you stole my confidence, and I demand its return: that you tell nothing of to-night to a living soul. Will you promise me that?" He paused a moment and looked down at her with frowning brows. Then his face cleared. "Very well, then. That is a bargain. But I don't think you realize just how near to actual danger you ran to-night in your mad pursuit of Ross Duggan. What made you think I was he?"