Ah! thou knowest not of these things, but yet thy speed flags not.

We are not far off now, good horse, we shall know all soon.
Now he was in the forest again, and now, as he rode quickly down the steep sandy road among the braken, he heard the hoarse rush of the river in his ears, and knew the end was well-nigh come.
No drink now, good Widderin! a bucket of Champagne in an hour's time, if thou wilt only stay not now to bend thy neck down to the clear gleaming water; flounder through the ford, and just twenty yards up the bank by the cherry-tree, we shall catch sight of the house, and know our fate.
Now the house was in sight, and now he cried aloud some wild inarticulate sound of thankfulness and joy.

All was as peaceful as ever, and Alice, unconscious, stood white-robed in the verandah, feeding her birds.
As he rode up he shouted out to her and beckoned.

She came running through the house, and met him breathless at the doorway.
"The bushrangers! Alice, my love," he said.

"We must fly this instant, they are close to us now." She had been prepared for this.