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Rh managed to escape her, and came back to the trap-door over the hearth, where a slight noise, made by Tregenna in his endeavors to keep his footing on the bales in the dark, had caught his trained ears.

He stooped quickly, and tried to raise the door. There was the sound of a scuffle, of a fall, and then Tom growled out—

"Now, by the Lord, Mistress Innocence, I've got you! You've got some one in hiding below there, and 'tis the lieutenant, I'll stake my loife!"

"And what if 'twere?" retorted Ann, coolly. "Dost think I want a lesson from thee how to treat folks? Canst not thou trust me to do the best for us all?"

"Most toimes, yes, Ann. But not where a handsome man's in the business. Oh, lass, I know thee! Thou'rt a monstrous foine lass, and I love thee. But I wouldn't trust thee with a fresh face too near thine, so 'twere as handsome a one as the lieutenant's, d him!"

"And canst thou not trust me to know how to shut a man's mouth, to stop his ears, to bind his hands?" hissed out Ann, with her lips close to his ear and her voice low and earnest.