Part 7 (1/2)

CHAPTER V

HOW JASON COLLYER CAME TO THE ”PLOW AND HARROW”

Once he had gotten the candle-light well out of his eyes, Ezra found that the darkness was not quite as thick as he had supposed.

”All of which suits my purpose very well,” he told himself, well pleased.

He had no idea of proceeding any great distance in the direction in which he was heading. He had promised to meet Ben Cooper at the place where the church tower reared itself above the tree-tops toward Chelmsford; and this he determined to do.

”If I fail to keep my promise, Ben will begin to imagine all sorts of things,” mused Ezra. ”And, also, I'll need to talk over this matter with him before I do anything.”

He rode along until his horse's hoofs sounded hollowly upon the timbers of the bridge.

”The sound will no doubt reach the house,” he muttered, ”and perhaps they will be listening for it.”

In the middle of the bridge he wheeled his steed and slowly recrossed; then dismounting he led the animal into the woods and struck out upon a course parallel with the road. The way was much darker here because of the overhang of the trees; he was compelled to proceed with the utmost care in order to avoid accidents.

”I said you had eyes like an owl, old fellow,” said he to the bay. ”Now prove that I did not overpraise you; for a misstep means, perhaps, a broken leg.”

And the horse, as though in answer, stepped gingerly along, his mane brus.h.i.+ng Ezra's shoulder, and his nose pointed toward the ground. In a short time they arrived opposite the house of Abdallah; the mastiffs must either have got scent of, or heard them. At any rate they broke into a tremendous barking.

Now Ezra spoke to the bay and it stopped. His hand sought the long pistol in the holster and his eyes were fixed upon the dark, silent house across the road.

Then the door opened and a flare of light shot out upon the neglected garden. Abdallah appeared in the doorway, and behind him was Jason Collyer with a shaded candle in his hand.

The Oriental spoke sharply to the clamoring brutes and they instantly subsided. Some words pa.s.sed between the two men, and then both went in; and the door was closed and all was darkness and stillness once more.

Ezra waited a while; then, as the dogs appeared to be silenced for good, he spoke to the horse and once more started on. Almost immediately the dogs recommenced their barking and once more the boy brought the bay to a halt. With his hand upon the pistol he watched the house, expecting the door to open. But this time it did not, and the mastiffs made the night echo with their uproar.

”It would seem that they are now tied up,” said Ezra after a little. ”It is a lucky thing for me that Abdallah was so minded. Otherwise I would have had them at my throat before this.”

Again he spoke to the horse and they proceeded upon their way through the trees. The mastiffs grew all but frantic in their ravings; but still no sign came from the house.

”I suppose the owners of such beasts grow accustomed to their noise in time,” thought the lad. ”And in that I am fortunate, too; for if Abdallah and his friends had taken it into their heads to make a search, they must have surely found me.”

About a hundred yards beyond the house he ventured into the road. As this was soft and he walked the horse, no sound of hoofs was heard. It was a good half mile farther on that he got into the saddle, and gathered up the reins with a breath of satisfaction.

”Now for the hamlet with the church tower,” he said, and he touched the bay with the spur and went loping down the dark wagonway.

There were stars in the sky, but no moon; a faint sheen filtered through to the earth, and as the road was of a light-colored soil, the boy could trace it faintly as it stretched on ahead of him. From among the trees that still continued to line the way, there came the mysterious shadows and sounds of the night; but Ezra Prentiss was not a lad to give such things much heed, but went plodding steadily on, his eyes bent keenly ahead, his whole attention given to making his destination in as short a time as possible.

A number of times he fancied that he caught dull, indefinite sounds in his rear; indeed, he once drew in his horse and listened. But as nothing more followed, he credited the noises to the whispering voice of the night, and so rode on.

At length he came to a place where the timber had been cleared away; fences were erected and the ground broken by the plow. Off to the left was a small group of houses, and above them, strongly marked against the background of stars, was the church tower that he had pointed out to Ben.

”Plowed ground is slow traveling,” he said to himself as he slipped from the saddle, ”but as I don't know the roads hereabouts, it's the best I can do.”

But as luck would have it, he found a place in the fence where the rails could be slipped.

”A gate,” said the boy, well pleased. ”Well, that can mean only one thing; there's a path hereabouts, somewhere.”