He dispelled the mists in his own brain and obeyed her. He swayed, and her arms went about him. Then he fell forward. Her strong arms encircled his waist and with all her magnificent young strength she dragged him to the door. It was noticeable, however--to all eyes except Bruce's--that she kept her own body as much as she could between him and the ambush. In an instant they were in the darkened room. Bruce stood up, once more wholly master of himself. "You're not hurt bad?" she asked quickly. "No. Just a deep scratch in the arm muscle near the shoulder. Bullet just must have grazed me. But it's bleeding pretty bad." "Then there's no time to be lost." Her hands in her eagerness went again to his shoulder. "Don't you see--he'll be here in a minute. We'll steal out the back door and try to ride down to the courts before they can overtake us--" In one instant he had grasped the idea; and he laughed softly in the gloom. "I know. I'll snatch two blankets and the food. You get the horse." She sprang out the kitchen door and he hurried into the bedrooms. He snatched two of the warmest blankets from the beds and hurled them over his shoulder. He hooked the camp ax on his belt, then hastened into the little kitchen. He took up the little sack containing a few pounds of jerked venison, spilled out a few pieces for Elmira, and carried it--with a few pounds of flour--out to meet Linda. The horse still stood saddled, and with deft hands they tied on their supplies and fastened the blankets in a long roll in front of the saddle. "Get on," she whispered. "I'll get up behind you." She spoke in the utter darkness; he felt her breath against his cheek. Then the lightning came dimly and showed him her face. "No, Linda," he replied quietly. "You are going alone--" She cut him off with a despairing cry. "Oh, please, Bruce--I won't. I'll stay here then--" "Don't you see?" he demanded. "You can make it out without me. I'm wounded and bleeding, and can't tell how long I can keep up. We've only got one horse, and without me to weigh him down you can get down to the courts--" "And leave you here to be murdered? Oh, don't waste the precious seconds any more. I won't go without you. I mean it. If you stay here, I do too. Believe me if you ever believed anything." Once more the lightning revealed her face, and on it was the determination of a zealot. He knew that she spoke the truth. He climbed with some difficulty into the saddle. A moment more and she swung up behind him. The entire operation had taken an astonishingly short period of time. Bruce had worked like mad, wholly disregarding his injured arm. The rain had already changed to snow, and the wet flakes beat in his face, but he did not heed them. Just beyond, Simon with ready rifle was creeping toward the house. "Which way?" Bruce asked.