Assured that no guard remained I flung myself recklessly over the porch rail onto the smooth turf of the lawn.

The dim outlines of the latticed summer house could be discerned not thirty feet distant, and I started toward it unhesitatingly.

I had made half the distance when a horse neighed suddenly to my right, and, startled at the sound, I fell flat, creeping cautiously forward into the shadow of a low bush.

I had risen to my knees, believing the animal must be the one left there for my use, when I heard the growl of a voice, a man's voice, from out the summer house.
An instant I could not locate the sound nor distinguish it clearly; then a sentence cut the air so distinctly that I recognized the speaker.
Grant! What was he doing here?
Had we delayed too long?
Had Fagin's pursuers returned?
If so, why was he there in the summer house, and with whom was he conversing?
I crouched back listening, afraid to move.
"I saw the gleam of your white skirt as I rounded the house," he exclaimed.

"By Gad, I thought the horse was going to bolt with me.