"Yes. They started early."
"Has anyone inquired for them?"
"No."
"Some breakfast, landlord--ale and bread and cheese will do--and a horse
at once."
"Yes, sir."
"And for heaven's sake give me a horse with four sound legs and with
wind enough in its bellows to stand a gallop."
Fairley was soon in the saddle again, and this time with a better horse
under him. His spirits rose as the miles were left rapidly behind, and
as he turned each bend in the road he looked eagerly for a dust cloud
before him proclaiming that his pursuit was nearly at an end.
Barbara sat silently in the corner of the carriage, Harriet Payne sat
upright, looking from the window. It was Harriet who first noticed that
the post-boy was suddenly startled, and that, in looking back, he had
almost allowed the horses to swerve from the roadway.
"What is it?" she called from the window, as she looked back along the
road they had come.
The post-boy pointed with his whip. Barbara looked hastily from the
other window. There was much dust from their own wheels, but, beyond,
there was another cloud surrounding and half concealing a horseman who
was fast overtaking them.
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