en he could relax his hold, and drop
softly to the ground.

So far all had gone with almost incredible ease, but Lessing was aware
that he was not yet out of the wood. At any moment his escape might
be discovered, and his pursuers would have a double advantage in their
possession of the car and their knowledge of the country itself. It
was the work of a few minutes to dart down the overgrown path, scale
the wall at the end of the garden, and drop upon the grass below, but
the next step was more difficult to decide. Looking around him he
perceived a white roadway curling like a ribbon round a sweep of
meadow land, and realised how easily his escape might be cut off. It
flashed into his mind that his best chance was to lie low until his
pursuers had started on their chase, and even as the thought passed
through his brain, his eye fell on a straggling growth of barberry
against the outer side of the wall he had just scaled. The bushes
were small and by no means thick, so that at first sight they offered
no promise of shelter, but on further examination Lessing discovered
that the ground between them and the wall was hollowed to the depth of
a foot or more, and covered with a mass of tall grasses. Here, then,
was an ideal hiding-place, where he could lie low and know all that
was happening around.

Without a moment's hesitation Lessing laid himself down in the hollow,
pressing back the grasses that he might creep close to the shelter of
the wall, then allowing them to spring back to their original
position. His tweed suit was of a nondescript tint, the shade least
likely to catch the eye, but for greater safety he picked handfuls of
leaves and grass, and scattered them over his clothes, then lying flat
with face hidden on his folded arms, he awaited the discovery of his
escape.

He had time to grow cramped and chill before the sound of loud raised
voices and the heavy tramp of feet over wooden floors warned him that
the search had begun. Almost immediately afterwards someone came
racing down the garden path, circled round once and again, and finally
clambered to the top of the wall, to obtain a view over the outlying
country. Lessing knew by the distinctness of the sound that the
ascent had been made at but a short distance from where he lay, and
the knowledge sent a chill through his blood. It had not occurred to
him that his hiding-plac