ld succeed in
leaving Polehampton before the Turtons came out again. Now, close to the
station yard was a lane, which led I knew not whither, but at least it
could be reached without passing the opposite shops. Opening the door,
as Mr. Turton left the butcher's and entered the grocer's, while his
back and his son's were towards me, I made a dash through the garden,
turned to my right, nor looked behind until I had reached the other side
of the street. Then to my alarm I saw Mrs. Riddles standing at her door,
which I had just left, while Mr. Turton and Augustus were hurrying
across the roadway towards her. Fortunately they seemed too excited to
look about them, so that I guessed that the grocer had set them on my
track.

Taking to my heels I sped down the lane, soon leaving the few cottages
behind and finding myself between low hedges with wheat growing on one
hand and sheep-turnips on the other. A short distance ahead, I saw a
butcher's cart on the point of leaving a cottage door.

'Are you going straight on?' I cried to the boy, only a little older
than myself, who was driving.

'What if I am?' he demanded.

'You might give me a lift, that's all.'

'Oh yes, I dare say!' he answered.

'I will give you sixpence,' I said.

'Up you jump,' he exclaimed, and the next instant I was seated by his
side, clinging to an iron railing on the top of the cart.

'How far are you going?' I inquired.

'Only to Hincham--about two miles,' he answered. 'I have got to fetch a
calf.'

Two miles would be better than no start at all, for I felt certain that
Mr. Turton would follow me. Mrs. Riddles had seen the direction I had
taken, and he might hire one of the railway-station cabs to overtake me.
Fortunately, the butcher's boy drove at a smart pace--faster, I thought,
than any cab; but when we reached Hincham and I paid his sixpence and
alighted, I scarcely knew what to do.

My experience on leaving the road for the fields on the first day had
not been encouraging, so without much notion of where I was going, I
determined to push along the lane for some distance, keeping a frequent
look-out in the rear. Turning at intervals to look back along the
straight, level lane, I walked on for a few miles, while the rain
continued to hold off and the sun came out again. Stopping once more to
make certain there was no pursuit, I saw to my dismay a vehicle rapidly
approaching.

Recognising it as the queer-looking fly I had noticed on Satu