Part 32 (2/2)

After a few hted the fuse and they went out and stood soone, and the dabbin loo reeds Jilooure vanished There was a flash behind the brokenand the shock of an explosion For a ht; then it tottered and a cloud of s walls Blocks of hard clay splashed in the creek and fell about the one A pile of rubbish, round which thin vapor drifted, marked the spot it had occupied A ure outlined against the sky, holding up his arms as if in protest

Then he vanished, and Ji

CHAPTER VI

THE THORN HEDGE

Mist drifted about the hollows and the new ht clouds The air was da-coat as he talked to Bernard on the steps at Dryhollistening on the den

”Your lamps are dim,” said Bernard ”If you ait a e”

Jiot home; and Bernard resu at the marsh won'tlike that, but I don't see why people should grumble,” Jiood,” Bernard agreed ”Since the ground is not enclosed, Joseph didn't bother about sporting rights and your neighbors took it for granted they could shoot a few ducks and snipe when they liked The sport's rough for men who shoot hand-reared pheasants, but there's so birds that are really wild”

”There is soame I've shot was certainly wild; in fact, I soet after a bull ht Well, I'd sooner hbors liked me, but don't mean to keep my land waste for them to play on”

Bernard nodded ”You are not afraid of unpopularity? However, I think I'd have got rid of Shanks, instead of sending hiround for believing hieful”

”It doesn't look as if he could injure ht pay to watch hiaes

It was obvious that old Shanks had helped, but there was some difficulty about the evidence” Bernard paused, and sine my friends on the Bench used their best efforts to convict, but folk seemed to think it prudent not to tell all they knew, and while Toot off Afterwards Jones had a re pheasants died about the coops, his own ferret killed his hens, and he lost a fine setter he was training Then he had an adventure one night in a shooting-punt that ought not to have leaked”

”I'll watch out,” said Jim, as he started his car

He did not think about Shanks as he drove up the avenue, where the leaves were falling, and down a long hill In the distance he saw the Whitelees lights and now and then, farther off, the faint shi+ning of the sea Mist that round Jihts sometimes dwelt on Evelyn and sometimes on thejob that he liked He was carrying out a duty, honoring a clai better than he found it Ji stock, and felt that since he had got the estate for nothing he must justify his ownershi+p and prove he orthy of the gift and the woround the ot thicker and rolled in low belts across the fields The carbide in his lamps was exhausted and the feeble bealy

He knehere he was, however, when he reached the round Tall, stiff reeds bordered the straight track The lights were sinking fast and since he o

The fog streamed past him, the hipped his face, and he clenched the wheel as he rocked with the jolts He was not far from home now and looked for the curve where his road branched off The curve was sharp and ran between ts of old thorn trees; Jim remembered that he had meant to cut them down There was a deep ditch between the trees and a belt of rough grass, then the narrow road, and a ditch on the other side After a few minutes a dark mass loomed in the haze and Jim kneould be prudent to slacken speed, but his lamps were nearly out, and a little farther on he atepost

A shadowy tree cay soil He was obviously taking too wide a sweep, and he turned inwards

The damp road was indistinct, but he could see the white reeds that grew along its edge, and the trunks of the thorns across the ditch He was going round the corner, looking for a triangular patch of grass, when he felt a violent jolt and fell forward on the wheel The car swerved and the front wheels plunged into the soft ground between the road and ditch

Jiht while she plowed up the grass Then the wheel was torn frorasp, the car swerved the other way, and he ja it was too late He felt her run across the road; she rocked as she took the grass, and then he was thrown out and knew nothing more

In the , talking to Halliday and Mordaunt The latter had brought a car fro The night was calm, the noise of the sea came out of the distance, and presently they heard the throb of a car running across the marsh

”That's Jim,” Carrie said to dick ”Since you wanted to see hiain”