"Don"t talk rubbish! Have you got that old bee in your bonnet again? I"m not afraid of Miss Margaret Wallace."
"Aren"t you? Then that"s all right, because I fancy that her agents are about you on every side."
"Her agents? What do you mean by her agents?"
"I imagine that Miss Margaret Wallace is more popular in this part of the world than you are. I can put two and two together.
From what I"ve seen, and heard, since our arrival, I shouldn"t be surprised to learn that she has n.o.bbled every creature in the neighbourhood. The station-master has received a hint from her--that explains the peculiarity of his manner; nothing else could. That poor wretch lying on the ground has been acting on her instructions. Don"t you make any mistake; I"m sure of it.
I"m equally sure that other friends of hers are waiting for you in there."
He pointed over the gate, along the avenue. His words, far from causing her alarm, seemed to act as a fillip.
"Friends of hers upon my property!--if they dare! Do you think that I"m afraid of what you call her friends?--of any number of them?--of the tricks they"ve set themselves to play?
I"d like to see them; I"d like to meet them. This is my property--mine!--every stick and stone on it! Neither Margaret Wallace nor any one else has a right to set foot upon it without my sanction. If I do find any trespa.s.sers I promise you that it won"t be me who"ll come off worst. Are you coming? You understand, if you"re to earn that thousand pounds you"re to stick to me through thick and thin--to the end! If you show the white feather, the bond is cancelled."
"Are you going to accept the invitation of the spider to the fly? You intend to walk into the trap?"
"Trap! Do you think that any trap was ever set that could catch me? I believe you"re talking the purest piffle; but if there is a trap, and I do walk into it, it"ll be to smash it all to pieces. Once more, are you coming?"
"Oh, I"m coming. I"ll do my best to earn the thousand, though I"m beginning to perceive that it wants more earning than I supposed. Lead on; where you lead I"ll not only follow, I"ll keep as close to your side as circ.u.mstances permit."
She threw the gate wide open. It swung back on its rusty hinges with a harsh, creaking sound. Then they entered the avenue, the lantern swinging in her hand.
CHAPTER x.x.xIII
AT THE DOOR
Between the trees the darkness was as if you might have cut it.
Where the lantern looked there were momentary revelations as they strode along. Its rays seemed to cut pieces out of the surrounding gloom. But the pieces were small. Its penetrating power was slight; where its penetration ceased the darkness was blacker than before. The silence which prevailed had its own peculiar property; it served to exaggerate the slightest disturbance. Their very footsteps were differentiated with an almost morbid clearness. The firm, resolute descent of the woman"s foot, the loose, indeterminate shuffle of the man"s; the sounds seemed to set themselves against each other and to ring through the trees. They gradually became conscious of the movements of unseen creatures among the gra.s.ses and the herbage, disturbed by their approach. Once she observed, as she swung the lantern to one side--
"That"s a rabbit. There used to be thousands of them when I was here. I expect there are more now. I daresay the whole place is overrun with them."
"It may be a rabbit, though, with due deference to your superior woodcraft, I doubt if there are many rabbits abroad at this hour of the night----But that"s not!"
"What? Where?"
"Are there deer about the place as well?"
"Deer? I don"t think so. I don"t remember seeing any."
"Then give me the lantern!"
Mrs. Lamb was holding the lantern out in front of her. s.n.a.t.c.hing it, he swung it slightly round. As he did so it went out.
"Luker!" she exclaimed. "How did you manage that? What a clumsy fool you are!"
There was a new intonation in his voice.
"Some one blew it out. Hollo, where are you coming to? Who the devil, sir, are you? Confound the man, where"s he gone?"
"Luker, what"s the matter?"
"Some one was walking behind us--didn"t you hear him? I not only heard but I felt him; he was as close as that. When I swung the lantern round I almost dashed it against his face. He blew it out. He tried to s.n.a.t.c.h it from me; I felt his fingers. Can you hear him?"
"Is that a footstep?"
"He stepped upon a twig. There"s more than one. I tell you they"re all round us. The lantern serves as a beacon; they can see us though we can"t see them."
They were speaking in whispers.
"Is that another footstep?"
"Curse the fellow, I believe he"s still within three or four feet of us. I believe I heard him breathe. I"ve a revolver in my pocket; I"ve half a mind----"
"I also have a revolver, and I"ve a whole mind. Look out! I"m going to fire!"
There was a flash; a report which seemed to wake the echoes of the forest for miles and miles; then a scream which rose high above the echoes, and seemed to hang quivering in, and rending, the silent air. The stillness which again ensued was rendered the more striking by its contrast with the previous turmoil.
"You"ve shot some one."
"Not I!--that wasn"t a man. I shouldn"t be surprised if it was some kind of a bird. There are birds in these woods which make noises at night which go right through you. Where"s your friend?"
"I"ll strike a match and try to get a light again. You cover me while I"m doing it."
The instant the match flickered into flame there was a crashing sound among the bushes as of a heavy object in headlong flight.
"There he is! He"s making off! I"ll have another pop at him!"
Again a revolver clamoured, but this time there was no answering sound, only stillness followed. Luker had succeeded in lighting the lantern. He held it well out. Together they peered into the cave of light which it hollowed out in front of them. It was broken by trees, by bushes, by bracken, but, so far as they could see, by nothing else. Luker spoke in a whisper.
"He"s gone. They"re too much for us, and too many. For all we can tell there"s some one behind each of those trees; they"re all of them big enough to shelter a man. This kind of thing"s a new experience to me--altogether out of my usual line. It"s a job for which I have no sort of stomach. What the game is I don"t know, but it"s one in which all the odds are against us--I do know that. I wish to the devil I"d stayed in town!"
"You didn"t; you"ve come down into the country with me, and in the country for the present you"ve got to stay. Give me that lantern, and don"t you s.n.a.t.c.h at it again. Whoever blows it out while I"ve got hold of it will be clever. Pretend to be a man, even if you aren"t one. As for that game about which you"re talking, if there is one on, I promise you that whoever scores in it, I shall."
They continued their progress, the lady again holding the lantern, moving onwards with her long, regular strides, swinging it a little as she walked. Mr. Luker, shuffling alongside, seemed to be unwilling to drop behind, and to find it difficult to keep up with her. As he went he glanced continually from side to side, and over his shoulder at the darkness which followed them. There was no attempt on either side at conversation, they simply went straight on.
They had gone some distance without anything happening to occasion them further concern, when the lady came to a sudden stop.
"Here we are!" she exclaimed. "That"s the house in front of us."
She held out the lantern, so that its farthest rays just touched a building which loomed mysteriously in the blackness. There was a note of triumph in her voice as she went on. "Luker, you"re nearer to that thousand pounds than you perhaps think, and in a very few minutes I"ll be within reach of that quarter of a million. Then I"ll show them!--all the lot of them!"
Quite what she meant by that last vague threat she only knew.
Before she had a chance to offer an explanation, if it was her intention to offer one, she was interrupted by Mr. Luker, who seemed destined that night to act as a harbinger of coming evil.
"What"s that?" he cried. "Who--my G.o.d!--who is this coming along the path?"