Page:Hornung - Irralies Bushranger.djvu/119

 alert, resolute, educated, masterful, indeed all one could wish one's opponent not to be; and the mannerisms of a coxcomb made him, even in the girl's eyes, all the more dangerous a man. This she realized while making a considerable détour among the pines. But her determination was unshaken and her nerve only tuned to a higher pitch when she emerged from the plantation at the back of the iron-store.

It was darker than ever, so that the angle of the prison roof was lost against the clouded blackness of the sky. And Irralie could touch the iron before she was sure that no face looked out upon her from the small square window. Yet the window was open, as it had been before.

She stood on tip-toe to put her mouth to the wooden sill and whisper, "Are you awake?" "Miss Villiers! Can that be you?"

The voice came from the level of Irralie's knees. "I want to speak to you," she said. "Stand up, or we shall be heard."