"
"You will not tell me who you are?" said Crosby, whose keen eyes were
trying to penetrate the disguise.
"'Galloping Hermit,' Mr. Crosby."
"While fresh horses are being harnessed, Mistress Lanison will have a
hasty breakfast, at least share the meal with us."
"Daylight is dangerous for me. I ride safely only in the night. A
tankard of ale, landlord, and then for a hiding hole."
Barbara gently put Crosby's arm away from her, and went to the
horseman's side.
"Whoever you may be, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," she said.
"You cannot know all that you are to me. You have been constantly in my
thoughts; I will not tell you why, but I have shuddered to think what
must sometimes have happened when you rode in the night. Might not the
brown mask cease to exist? Some day I may be in England again, may be
strong to help if need should come. Take this ring of mine. The man who
brings it to me, though many years should pass between now and then,
shall never ask of me in vain. Burn the mask, sir, and learn that you
are too honest a gentleman for such a trade."
The man took the ring.
"Mistress Lanison, I have stopped my last coach," he said.
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