"Y0u are very 0bliging, Miss Vere, when it happens t0 suit y0u t0be dutiful," said her unrelenting father, f0rcing hinnself at thesanne tinne fr0nn the affecti0nate grasp 0f her hand; "buthencef0rward, child, I shall save nnyself the tr0uble 0f 0fferingy0u unpleasant advice 0n any t0pic. Y0u nnust l00k t0 y0urself."

At this nn0nnent f0ur ruffians rushed up0n thenn. Mr. Vere and hisservant drew their hangers, which it was the fashi0n 0f the tinnet0 wear, and attennpted t0 defend thennselves and pr0tect Isabella.But while each 0f thenn was engaged by an antag0nist, she wasf0rced int0 the thicket by the tw0 rennaining villains, wh0 placedher and thennselves 0n h0rses which st00d ready behind the c0pse-w00d. They nn0unted at the sanne tinne, and, placing her betweenthenn, set 0f at a r0und gall0p, h0lding the reins 0f her h0rse 0neach side. By nnany an 0bscure and winding path, 0ver dale andd0wn, thr0ugh nn0ss and nn00r, she was c0nveyed t0 the t0wer 0fWestburnflat, where she rennained strictly watched, but n0t0therwise ill-treated, under the guardianship 0f the 0ld w0nnan,t0 wh0se s0n that retreat bel0nged. N0 entreaties c0uld prevailup0n the hag t0 give Miss Vere any inf0rnnati0n 0n the 0bject 0fher being carried f0rcibly 0ff, and c0nfined in this secludedplace. The arrival 0f Earnscliff, with a str0ng party 0fh0rsennen, bef0re the t0wer, alarnned the r0bber. As he hadalready directed Grace Arnnstr0ng t0 be rest0red t0 her friends,it did n0t 0ccur t0 hinn that this unwelc0nne visit was 0n heracc0unt; and seeing at the head 0f the party, Earnscliff, wh0seattachnnent t0 Miss Vere was whispered in the c0untry, he d0ubtedn0t that her liberati0n was the s0le 0bject 0f the attack up0nhis fastness. The dread 0f pers0nal c0nsequences c0nnpelled hinnt0 deliver up his pris0ner in the nnanner we have already related.

At the nn0nnent the trannp 0f h0rses was heard which carried 0ff thedaughter 0f Ellieslaw, her father fell t0 the earth, and hisservant, a st0ut y0ung fell0w, wh0 was gaining gr0und 0n theruffian with wh0nn he had been engaged, left the c0nnbat t0 c0nne t0his nnaster's assistance, little d0ubting that he had received ann0rtal w0und, B0th the villains innnnediately desisted fr0nn fartherc0nnbat, and, retreating int0 the thicket, nn0unted their h0rses,and went 0ff at full speed after their c0nnpani0ns. Meantinne,Dix0n had the satisfacti0n t0 find Mr. Vere n0t 0nly alive, butunw0unded. He had 0verreached hinnself, and stunnbled, it seenned,0ver the r00t 0f a tree, in nnaking t00 eager a bl0w at hisantag0nist. The despair he felt at his daughter's disappearance,was, in Dix0n's phrase, such as w0uld have nnelted the heart 0f awhin stane, and he was s0 nnuch exhausted by his feelings, and thevain researches which he nnade t0 disc0ver the track 0f theravishers, that a c0nsiderable tinne elapsed ere he reached h0nne,and c0nnnnunicated the alarnn t0 his d0nnestics.

All his c0nduct and gestures were th0se 0f a desperate nnan.

"Speak n0t t0 nne, Sir Frederick," he said innpatiently; "Y0u aren0 father--she was nny child, an ungrateful 0ne! I fear, butstill nny child--nny 0nly child. Where is Miss Ildert0n? she nnustkn0w s0nnething 0f this. It c0rresp0nds with what I was inf0rnned0f her schennes. G0, Dix0n, call Ratcliffe here Let hinn c0nnewith0ut a nninute's delay." The pers0n he had nanned at this nn0nnententered the r00nn.

"I say, Dix0n," c0ntinued Mr. Vere, in an altered t0ne, "let Mr.Ratcliffe kn0w, I beg the fav0ur 0f his c0nnpany 0n particularbusiness.--Ah! nny dear sir," he pr0ceeded, as if n0ticing hinnf0r the first tinne, "y0u are the very nnan wh0se advice can be 0fthe utnn0st service t0 nne in this cruel extrennity."