At the very moment that I had declared to myself the vanity of my fears and determined to be resolute in banishing them, I heard voices--a low, strained whispering; I saw two or three figures in the shadow of the poplars by the wayside.

An instant later, a dart was made at me.

While I could fly I would not fight; with a sudden forward plunge I eluded the men who rushed at me, and started at a run towards the lights of the town and the shapes of the houses, now distant about a quarter of a mile.

Perhaps I ran twenty yards, perhaps fifty; I do not know.

I heard the steps behind me, quick as my own.