Good runner as he was, he gained but slightly at first, but after a time he drew nearer to the fugitive.

The latter was but some sixty yards away when he leaped a hedge into a narrow lane.

Mark followed without hesitation, but as he leaped into the road he heard a jeering laugh and the sharp sound of a horse's hoofs, and knew that the man he was pursuing had gained his horse and made off.

Disgusted at his failure, he went slowly back to the house.

The shutters had been put up.
"I have lost him, father.