e could be viewed from above, and he waited in
the keenest suspense, prepared to take to his feet and make a dash for
it, at the first hint of discovery. But the man on the wall made no
such sign. He breathed in short, gasping breaths, as a man would
breathe under stress of agitation, and between his breaths once and
again he sent out the old whistling summons, then scrambling,
clutching, he fell back into the garden, and again raced to and fro
among the curving paths.

For the next ten minutes the sounds of the search continued to reach
Lessing's ears, then came the welcome thudding of the engine, as the
car swept out of the gate, showing that the men had abandoned the
search of the premises. Another ten minutes, and the thudding sounded
again, but from another direction, and peering cautiously between the
branches, Lessing could watch the car approach down the long curve of
the road encircling the meadows. It was running slowly now, its
occupants no doubt engaged in searching the flat stretch of land,
making sure of one direction after another in which their prisoner
could not have escaped. Presently it turned and slowly traversed the
same space, before it finally returned to the high road and
disappeared from sight.

The dusk had fallen before Lessing crept out of his hiding-place, and
dragged his stiffened limbs across the meadows. He had determined to
avoid the highways, and so wandered on without any idea of the
direction in which he was going, but after half an hour's walking, to
his joy and relief he struck a railway line, and following it soon
arrived at a country station.

At ten o'clock that night Lessing let himself into his rooms, dusty,
dirty, incredibly fatigued, the poorer by the loss of a bag containing
two quite admirable suits of clothes, but full of thankfulness and
relief.

For once at least he had beaten the Brethren on their own ground!

"It's no good pretending. It's no good trying to deceive me. You
_are_ changed!" Delia declared, nodding her pretty head with solemn
emphasis. "You are changing more and more every single day. And it
doesn't suit you. Hollows in the cheeks! What business has a man of
thirty with hollows in his cheeks? And a different expression in your
eyes. Worried, absent, scared. Valentine Lessing,--what have you
been and gone and done?"

Lessing was seated once more in the deligh