In comparative silence they stole out into the hall, threw on
their coats and hats, and then Tony West nervously slid the bolts of the
big front door. It creaked once or twice, but no sound from the still
house answered it. West swung it open, and on the whitened step they
quietly put on their shoes.
The doctor switched on an electric torch and threw a blob of light upon
the gravelled pathway for them to see the descent. Then one by one they
went quietly down the steps, and West shut the door behind them.
"Excellent! Excellent!" exclaimed Doctor Bartholomew, as the gate was
reached with no untoward happenings. "Not a soul knows we're gone, boys.
That's pretty certain. Now, then, out of the gate and turn to the right
up that lane. It'll take us to the very edge of the Fens, I believe, and
then our search will commence."
He spoke with assurance, and they followed him instinctively.
Unconsciously they had made him captain of the expedition. But--no one
had heard them, he had said? If he had looked back once when the big gate
shut, he might have changed his mind upon that score.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82