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352 her dressing-table which would re-assure Ina as to her safety.

She had put on her riding skirt, and had a lady's spur in her hand. It was a sudden inspiration which had made her snatch it from its peg in the passage. She was panting and breathless, but she would not let him wait a moment. He lifted her on her horse, and presently they were cantering fast along the track to the Gorge.

It was not more than eight miles, and the country was fairly level. The sun had only just set as they reached the Baròlin slip rails, and as good luck had it, Jack Nutty, the half-caste, mounted on a spirited young horse, was riding down towards them. On the way Elsie had told Frank all that she knew and might tell of Blake's career, and the young man's heart was less vindictive towards his rival and more sympathetic with the woman he loved, and who, in her turn, loved so unwisely. The whole story now was clear to him, the secret of the double life and of the bush-rangers' hiding-place.

They stopped Jack Nutty and asked for news of his master. At first the half-caste would give only evasive replies. Blake was not in the house; he was out on the run. Then, when Elsie told him wildly of his master's peril, Jack Nutty, all alert, turned his horse's head towards Mount Luya. "Massa sit down along a cave," he cried, and galloped thitherward, leaving Elsie and Hallett to follow.

They knew now that the danger was imminent. It was a race between the troopers and themselves. Blake's liberty, perhaps his life, depended on which should reach the Falls first.

Oh, for Abatos, trained, sure-footed, and swift. Fortunately, Ina Gage's horse and that which Lord Horace had used to ride, and which had been saddled for Lord Waveryng, were both half thoroughbreds, and creatures of pace and mettle. Hallett was, of course, a magnificent bush-rider, and Elsie a fearless horsewoman. They dashed on, never slacking, though the country grew wilder,