I cannot say
how sad, yet sweet, the sight was: it seemed like the mirage of the
desert, of which I had been told--so beautiful, but never to be reached
again by me. The air was still, and the blue smoke of the morning
wood-fires rose straight up, but none from the Why Not? or Manor House.
The sun was already very hot, and I dropped at once from the hill-top,
digging my heels into the brown-burned turf, and keeping as much as might
be among the furze champs. So I was soon in the wood, and made straight
for the little dell and lay down there, burying myself in the wild
rhubarb and burdocks, yet so that I could see the doorway of the Manor
House over the lip of the hill.
Then I reflected what I was to do, or how I should get to speak with
Grace: and thought I would first wait an hour or two, and see whether she
came out, and afterwards, if she did not, would go down boldly and knock
at the door. This seemed not very dangerous, for it was likely, from what
Ratsey had said, that there was no one with her in the house, and if
there was it would be but an old woman, to whom I could pass as a
stranger in my disguise, and ask my way to some house in the village. So
I lay still and munched a piece of bread, and heard the clock in the
church tower strike eight and afterwards nine, but saw no one move in the
house.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200