Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/219

 Nelson jumped. "Gee! Do you suppose it is?"

"Might be," was the cheerful reply. "How about that whip?"

"I don't find one."

"Never mind. It probably wouldn't do any good, anyway." For a minute or more they thumped and swayed over the road, if road it was, without further speech. Nelson tried to listen for sounds of pursuit, but the creaking of the wheels and the straining of the wagon prevented. Then Martin laughed softly beside him. "Say, won't they be surprised when they get back and don't find it?" he asked. "Can't you just picture them stumbling around in the dark? They'll think at first that they've missed the place. Then they'll conclude that the horses have moved off a bit. Oh, they'll have a jolly time of it!"

"They'll follow us, of course," said Nelson. "Don't you suppose they can hear this old thing rumbling and squeaking a mile away?"

"That's so! I hadn't thought of that I Well, we'll give them a run for their money, anyhow. Get ap, Roger! Get ap, Queen Bess! Say, what do they call horses in Ireland?"

"Pat and Mike, I guess." Nelson put an uneasy head around the side of the wagon, but, ex- 194