"That they would not," I answered him. "And now, please let me pass."

"Without a kiss?" he said mockingly. "Very well, then, I shall let you
go. But I feel myself a poor-spirited fellow for it. Do you know that
your eyes are like wet violets? And when do we meet again, my dear?"

However, though he mocked he stood aside to let me pass, which at first
I hesitated to do, fearing that he might perhaps seize me in his arms as
I passed him.

To my great vexation he seemed to guess at this feeling of mine, for he
laughed again and said--

"Don't be afraid, pretty one. I promised to let you pass and I shall.
No one shall say that Dick Dawson's word isn't as good as his bond; and
his bond is worth a good deal. He ought to know something of bonds too,
seeing the way the money was made."

So he mocked at himself when he was not mocking at me. I did not
altogether trust him, but I made up my mind that if he was rude to me
again my poor dog should protect me as she had done before. But after
all there was no necessity, for with a sudden movement my enemy lifted
his hat, turned away and walked down the road, smiling at me, as he
went, over his shoulder.

Never was any one so glad of a place of refuge as I was when I went in
at the postern gate in the wall and was within our own woods. I tried to
shoot the rusty bolt into its place, but it had been unused for years
and I could not move it, so I let it be. And now it was twilight in the