his reflected glory. It was
a delightful sensation.

They had gone some forty yards, when Erebus said in a hushed, awed, yet
gratified tone: "Have you killed him, Mr. Carrington?"

"No, my child. I am not a pork-butcher," said Mr. Carrington amiably.

"He _looked_ as if he was dead," said Erebus; and there was a faint
ring of disappointment in her tone.

"In a short time the young man will come to himself; and let us hope
that it will be a better and wiser self," said Mr. Carrington. "But
what was it all about? What did that truculent young ruffian want with
Rupert?"

Erebus paused, looking earnestly round to the horizon for inspiration;
then she dashed at the awkward subject with commendable glibness: "It
was a pheasant in Great Deeping wood," she said. "The Terror found it,
I suppose. I had gone on, and I didn't see that part. But it was
Wiggins the keeper caught. Of course--"

"I beg your pardon; but I should like that point a little clearer,"
broke in Mr. Carrington. "Had you ridden on too, Rupert? Or did you
see what happened?"

"Oh, yes; I was there," said Wiggins readily. "And the Terror found
the pheasant in the wood and put it in his bicycle basket. And we had
just got on our bicycles when the keeper came out of the wood, and I
ran into him; and he collared me and took me up to the Court. I wasn't
really frightened--at least, not much."

"The keeper had no right to touch him," Erebus broke in glibly.
"Wiggins never touched the pheasant; he didn't even go into the wood;
and when I went into the hall, the hall of the Court, I found him and
the keeper sitting there, and I let Wiggins out, of course, and then
that horrid Mr. D'Arcy Rosenheimer who shoots nightingales, caught hold
of me by the arm ever so roughly, and I slapped him just once. I
should think that the mark is still there "--her speed of speech
slackened to a slower vengeful gratification and then quickened
again--"and he began to thump me and the footman interfered, and I came
away, and they came after us in the car, and you saw what happened--at
least you did it."

She stopped somewhat breathless.

"Lucidity itself," said Mr. Carrington. "But let us have the matter of
the pheasant clear. Was the Terror exploring the wood on the chance of
finding a pheasant, or had he reason to expect that a pheasant would be
there ready to be brought home?"

Erebus blushed faintly, looked round the horizon somewhat aimlessly,
and said,