CHAPTER VIIThe haughty maid has left the Mink,
She finds her father’s place;
The squire has looked her in the eye:
“Now what a fox to chase!”
He’s called in all his friends and kin,
And dealt out guns and shells;
He’s sworn an oath to catch the Mink
By all the seven hells!
—Ruck’s Ballad of the Mink
* * * *
Lady Nirea was puffing and blowing and clawing her way through endless miles of creepers, thorns, and brushwood. She wished Revel were carrying her now, even if it meant the loss of her clothing again. Now she appreciated what a job he’d done, for naked though she’d been, not half as many scratches had marred her skin on their first journey.
Ahead of her, the giant called Rack was doing his best to break trail for her; and in front of him, with a rope under his arms which the
