It wasn't easy, and half-way down I heard the back door
of the house open, and saw the gleam of a lantern against the mill
wall. For some agonizing minutes I hung by the ivy and prayed
that whoever it was would not come round by the dovecot. Then
the light disappeared, and I dropped as softly as I could on to the
hard soil of the yard.
I crawled on my belly in the lee of a stone dyke till I reached the
fringe of trees which surrounded the house. If I had known how to
do it I would have tried to put that aeroplane out of action, but I
realized that any attempt would probably be futile. I was pretty
certain that there would be some kind of defence round the house,
so I went through the wood on hands and knees, feeling carefully
every inch before me. It was as well, for presently I came on a wire
about two feet from the ground. If I had tripped over that, it
would doubtless have rung some bell in the house and I would
have been captured.
A hundred yards farther on I found another wire cunningly
placed on the edge of a small stream. Beyond that lay the moor, and
in five minutes I was deep in bracken and heather. Soon I was
round the shoulder of the rise, in the little glen from which the
mill-lade flowed. Ten minutes later my face was in the spring, and I
was soaking down pints of the blessed water.
But I did not stop till I had put half a dozen miles between me
and that accursed dwelling.
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