, no, you couldn't! I--I'm not fit to be out at all; it must be a
closed conveyance; but I'll come to the end of the lane to save time,
so let him wait there. You needn't wait yourself; here's a sovereign
of your money, and I'll leave the rest in the jug in my bedroom. There!
It's worth your while to trust me, I think. As for my luggage, I'll
write to Mr. Rattray about that. But I'll be shot if I spend another
night on his property."

I was rid of him at last; and there I stood, listening to his headlong
steps, until they stumbled out of earshot down the lane; then back to
the cottage, at a run myself, and up to my room to be no worse than my
word. The sovereigns plopped into the water and rang together at
the bottom of the jug. In another minute I was hastening through the
plantation, in my hand the revolver that had served me well already, and
was still loaded and capped in all five chambers.

CHAPTER XIV. IN THE GARDEN

It so happened that I met nobody at all; but I must confess that my
luck was better than my management. As I came upon the beck, a new sound
reached me with the swirl. It was the jingle of bit and bridle; the beat
of hoofs came after; and I had barely time to fling myself flat, when
two horsemen emerged from the plantation, riding straight towards me in
the moonlight. If they continued on that course they could not fail
to see me as they passed along the opposite bank. However, to my
unspeakable relief, they were scarce clear of the trees when they turned
their horses' heads, rode them through the water a good seventy yards
from where I lay, and so away at a canter across country towards the
road. On my hands and knees I had a good look at them as they bobbed up
and down under the moon; and my fears subsided in astonished curiosity.
For I have already boasted of my eyesight, and I could have sworn that
neither Rattray nor any one of his guests was of the horsemen; yet the
back and shoulders of one of these seemed somehow familiar to me. Not
that I wasted many moments over the coincidence, for I had other things
to think about as I ran on to the hall.

I found the rear of the building in darkness unrelieved from within; on
the other hand, the climbing moon beat so full upon the garden wall, it
was as though a lantern pinned me as I crept beneath it. In passing I
thought I might as well try the gate; but Eva was right; it was locked;
and that made me half inclined to distrust my eyes in the m