added, "_And_
Madagascar!" But what was said matters not, for the Recording Angel had
dropped his pen. The whole party stood amazed, unable to place the
occurrence in any sort of intelligible context, and with looks that
seemed to say, "The reign of Chaos has returned, and the Inexpressible
become a fact!" Some went to the edge of the gorge and saw below a mass
of buckled tin, irrecoverable, and worthless. Some looked about on the
hillside, but looked on nothing to the point. Some stood by the spot
where the kettle had hung, and argued without premises. Some searched
for the missile, some for the man; but neither was found. The whole
thing was an absolute mystery. The party had lost their tea, and gained
a subject for conversation at dinner. That was all.

That night Snarley, in the tap-room of the Nag's Head, heard the story
from the groom who had lit the fire, hung the kettle, and seen it fly
into space. Snarley said nothing, quickly finished his glass, and went
home. "Missis," he said, "get my breakfast at three o'clock to-morrow
morning. Shepherd Toller's come back. And mind you hold your tongue."

By five o'clock next morning Snarley had reached the scene of the
picnic. He gazed about him in all directions: nothing was stirring but
the peewits. Then he climbed down the gorge with some difficulty, found
the kettle, and examined its riven side. Climbing back, he went some
distance further up the valley, ascended a little knoll, took out his
whistle, and blew a peculiar blast, tremulous and piercing. No response.
Snarley blew again, and again. At the fourth attempt the distant barking
of a dog was heard, and a minute later the signal was answered by the
counterpart to Snarley's blast. Presently the form of a big man,
followed by a yelping dog, appeared on the skyline above. Shepherd
Toller was found.

* * * * *

During the week which followed these events, various members of the
picnic-party had begun to recollect things they had previously
forgotten, and discoveries were made, _ex post facto_, which warranted
the submission of the case to the Society for the Investigation of
Mysterious Phenomena. Lady Lottie Passingham had been of the party, and
she it was who drew up the Report which was so much discussed a few
years ago. In her own evidence Lady Lottie, whose figure was none too
slim, averred that, as she climbed the hill to the place of rendezvous,
she had been distinctly conscio