g sure
that no one was looking that way, and bidding the others keep a sharp
lookout, Myles shinned up this tree, and choosing one of the thicker
limbs, climbed out upon it for some little distance. Then lowering his
body, he hung at arm's-length, the branch bending with his weight, and
slowly let himself down hand under hand, until at last he hung directly
over the top of the wall, and perhaps a foot above it. Below him he
could see the leafy top of an arbor covered with a thick growth of
clematis, and even as he hung there he noticed the broad smooth
walks, the grassy terrace in front of the Countess's apartments in the
distance, the quaint flower-beds, the yew-trees trimmed into odd shapes,
and even the deaf old gardener working bare-armed in the sunlight at a
flower-bed in the far corner by the tool-house.

The top of the wall was pointed like a house roof, and immediately below
him was covered by a thick growth of green moss, and it flashed through
his mind as he hung there that maybe it would offer a very slippery
foothold for one dropping upon the steep slopes of the top. But it was
too late to draw back now.

Bracing himself for a moment, he loosed his hold upon the limb above.
The branch flew back with a rush, and he dropped, striving to grasp the
sloping angle with his feet. Instantly the treacherous slippery moss
slid away from beneath him; he made a vain clutch at the wall, his
fingers sliding over the cold stones, then, with a sharp exclamation,
down he pitched bodily into the garden beneath! A thousand thoughts
flew through his brain like a cloud of flies, and then a leafy greenness
seemed to strike up against him. A splintering crash sounded in his
ears as the lattice top of the arbor broke under him, and with one final
clutch at the empty air he fell heavily upon the ground beneath.

He heard a shrill scream that seemed to find an instant echo; even as
he fell he had a vision of faces and bright colors, and when he sat up,
dazed and bewildered, he found himself face to face with the Lady Anne,
the daughter of the house, and her cousin, the Lady Alice, who clutching
one another tightly, stood staring at him with wide scared eyes.

CHAPTER 18

For a little time there was a pause of deep silence, during which the
fluttering leaves came drifting down from the broken arbor above.

It was the Lady Anne who first spoke. "Who art thou, and whence comest
thou?" said she, tremulously.

Then Myles gathe