The wood is thick, and if I hear the sound of horse or man I always slip aside and hide myself.

But today, methinks, they must have tracked me and were lying in wait; for the wood was silent as the church till I reached the clearing, and then the whole four sprang up from behind the pile of felled trees and set upon me.

Had you not been at hand, by good providence; I should ere this have been their helpless captive;" and again the girl shuddered strongly.
By this time the trees were growing somewhat thinner, and lights began to twinkle here and there, showing that some village was nigh at hand.

A bell for vespers began to ring forth, and the traveller was glad enough to think his toilsome journey nearly at an end.
Hardy as he was, and well inured to fatigues and hardship of all kinds, he was growing exhausted from his day's travel and his sharp fighting.

He was wounded, too, and although there was no great effusion of blood, his hurt was becoming painful, and his left arm, which was undoubtedly broken, required some skilled attention.
"Is it here that you live, fair maid ?" he asked.