第15章

He had fallen slightly behind in a new confusion of hesitation,wonder,and embarrassment,when from a wooded trail to the right,another horseman suddenly swept into the road before him.He was a powerfully built man,mounted on a thoroughbred horse of a quality far superior to the ordinary roadster.Without looking at Key he easily ranged up beside the coach as if to pass it,but Key,with a sudden resolution,put spurs to his own horse and ranged also abreast of him,in time to see his fair unknown start at the apparition of this second horseman and unmistakably convey some signal to him,--a signal that to Key's fancy now betrayed some warning of himself.He was the more convinced as the stranger,after continuing a few paces ahead of the coach,allowed it to pass him at a curve of the road,and slackened his pace to permit Key to do the same.Instinctively conscious that the stranger's object was to scrutinize or identify him,he determined to take the initiative,and fixed his eyes upon him as they approached.But the stranger,who wore a loose brown linen duster over clothes that appeared to be superior in fashion and material,also had part of his face and head draped by a white silk handkerchief worn under his hat,ostensibly to keep the sun and dust from his head and neck,--and had the advantage of him.He only caught the flash of a pair of steel-gray eyes,as the newcomer,apparently having satisfied himself,gave rein to his spirited steed and easily repassed the coach,disappearing in a cloud of dust before it.But Key had by this time reached the "cut-off,"which the stranger,if he intended to follow the coach,either disdained or was ignorant of,and he urged his horse to its utmost speed.Even with the stranger's advantages it would be a close race to the station.

Nevertheless,as he dashed on,he was by no means insensible to the somewhat quixotic nature of his undertaking.If he was right in his suspicion that a signal had been given by the lady to the stranger,it was exceedingly probable that he had discovered not only the fair inmate of the robbers'den,but one of the gang itself,or at least a confederate and ally.Yet far from deterring him,in that ingenious sophistry with which he was apt to treat his romance,he now looked upon his adventure as a practical pursuit in the interests of law and justice.It was true that it was said that the band of road agents had been dispersed;it was a fact that there had been no spoliation of coach or teams for three weeks;but none of the depredators had ever been caught,and their booty,which was considerable,was known to be still intact.It was to the interest of the mine,his partners,and his workmen that this clue to a danger which threatened the locality should be followed to the end.As to the lady,in spite of the disappointment that still rankled in his breast,he could be magnanimous!She might be the paramour of the strange horseman,she might be only escaping from some hateful companionship by his aid.And yet one thing puzzled him:she was evidently not acquainted with the personality of the active gang,for she had,without doubt,at first mistaken HIM for one of them,and after recognizing her real accomplice had communicated her mistake to him.

It was a great relief to him when the rough and tangled "cut-off"at last broadened and lightened into the turnpike road again,and he beheld,scarcely a quarter of a mile before him,the dust cloud that overhung the coach as it drew up at the lonely wayside station.He was in time,for he knew that the horses were changed there;but a sudden fear that the fair unknown might alight,or take some other conveyance,made him still spur his jaded steed forward.As he neared the station he glanced eagerly around for the other horseman,but he was nowhere to be seen.He had evidently either abandoned the chase or ridden ahead.

It seemed equally a part of what he believed was a providential intercession,that on arriving at the station he found there was a vacant seat inside the coach.It was diagonally opposite that occupied by the lady,and he was thus enabled to study her face as it was bent over her book,whose pages,however,she scarcely turned.After her first casual glance of curiosity at the new passenger,she seemed to take no more notice of him,and Key began to wonder if he had not mistaken her previous interrogating look.

Nor was it his only disturbing query;he was conscious of the same disappointment now that he could examine her face more attentively,as in his first cursory glance.She was certainly handsome;if there was no longer the freshness of youth,there was still the indefinable charm of the woman of thirty,and with it the delicate curves of matured muliebrity and repose.There were lines,particularly around the mouth and fringed eyelids,that were deepened as by pain;and the chin,even in its rounded fullness,had the angle of determination.From what was visible,below the brown linen duster that she wore,she appeared to be tastefully although not richly dressed.