Part 24 (1/2)
Hugh sat up ”I reed dejectedly ”You'd better hear it from me than fro up the path soon” He was silent again for a minute, and then started once more:
”It was this way When ent up first it was perfectly glorious-- you never can iine how lovely Adelaide looks from the air, with the hills round and the sea in the distance and al hadn't happened I could tell you all sorts of things, but now I can't think of anything It was near the end I fully keen on trying an experiment--two experiiven spot if I aimed at it with a stone, and I wanted to see howPerhaps it's only one experi two at the tiht want to shoot froht drop a ball of explosives with a fuse attached or soht about it when that Russian scare was on, but I never thought I'd get the chance to try So I got a good, smooth, round stone, nine-and-a-half ounces, and wrapped it up in a handkerchief and took it up I knew a good place to aior's Burnt Oak field I knew the field was ehed up for soor wants to try--blow all experiave his men a holiday to come and see the balloon We were about fifteen hundred feet up and going slowly I could see the oak and its shadow quite plainly So I let the stone drop”
Hugh paused again and groaned
”Go on,” said so or other erous it was to chuck things over carelessly, though it seems tosandbags about I asked hi half a pound, and he said it would fall half a mile in twelve and a half seconds, and if it hit anyone on the head that person would be as dead as if he had got a bullet through hilad that field had been empty We came down soon after that, and I cut off to Burnt Oak field to look for h stopped short
”Go on,” said the others
”It wasn't there, nor anywhere round; and I _knew_ it must have dropped on that field”
”But,” said Jerry, ”if it hit the earth at that speed it would bury itself ever so deep You could not possibly see it”
”I thought of that,” said Hugh, ”so I looked for the hole, and I found it About thirty feet fro I could soon learn to aied or sent to prison for life Oh--Well, I found the hole, and beside it I found--”
No one dared to ask a question Hugh remained silent till it was almost more than they could bear
”Blood!” he whispered at last
”Jioing to say a dead body If the body got up and walked away it couldn't have been so very dead How much blood? Were there any foothed, and the ground was rather hard, covered with grass the cattle had been cropping There were so thee, I looked at theot sick, and then had to skedaddle because so ht; you had the lucky dialy
”That ain ”I tied the diaot to take it out”
”Oh, _Hugh_!” exclaimed Prudence, more perturbed by this disaster than by the hypothetical murder, ”how _could_ you be so careless?”
”It doesn't matter,” Grizzel persisted, with cheerful cals luck It has had one miracle, and I expect it will have another It will co it back hih, ”because the ring has Grizzel's na that mine is the saood clue to start on If the person was _not_ hit and steals the diaood care not to show hiive Grizzelto happen I shouldn't ives me the horrors” He looked over his shoulder as he spoke, with a shi+ver of anticipation
”It sounds to htful frown ”How do you know that the hole you saas ht have been there already”
”Because it was fresh, and the earth round was freshly thrown up; and so beside it”
The boys looked grave This did sound rather serious
”But,” said Mollie, ”the stone could not have buried itself in a hole and hit a person so that the person was killed at the same time If it went down into a hole it did not hit anyone”
”I never thought of that,” said Hugh, cheering up for the first time ”Neither it could; but there was the blood,” he added despondently, ”pints of it I never thought anything could bleed soone way or the other, for either some neill turn up or the dia you can do now is to have some tea,” said Prudence, ”then you will feel better and we can plan what to do”