Blair rode on toward Ilfracombe, his cigar between his lips, his
handsome face wearing its best and brightest look. He was, as he would
have expressed it, as happy as a sandboy; and the only thing that
could have increased his happiness would have been to have had Margaret
with him.
It would be an exaggeration to say that he thought of nothing else
but her as he rode along; but it is true that she was present in his
thoughts nearly all the time, and that as he looked seaward, where the
green water lay like an opal in the sun, or inland, where the yellow
cornfields glittered like gold across the blue sky, he thought how much
she would have admired it, and how her artist soul would revel in its
beauty.
After riding some time he saw a couple of men lying by the roadside.
They were fishermen from Appleford, who had, perhaps, been to
Ilfracombe, and were resting.
"I'm right for Ilfracombe, I suppose?" said Blair.
The men touched their hats.
"Yes, sir, you're right," said one; "but you have come a long way
round. You should have cut across the cliff by the narrow lane through
Lee."
"Eh?" said Blair, standing in his stirrups and looking about him.
The man got up, and shading his eyes, pointed to the place indicated.
"That's the way; it's but a bit of a lane, but it saves a mile or more."
"Thanks!" said Blair. "I'll remember it, and come back that way."
As he spoke, a man, who had been climbing the hill behind Blair and the
two fishermen, came suddenly, as it were, upon them. He stopped short,
and in an adept fashion sunk easily to the ground, where he lay and
listened, within almost touch of them, and yet unseen.
"Yes, I understand," said Blair; "nice day, isn't it. You fellows have
a cigar?"
A fisherman may be a teetotaler, but he always smokes.
Blair took out his cigar case; there were just two cigars left, and he
gave them to the men.
"Bean't we robbing you, sir?" said one of the men, rather shyly,
offering the case back; but Blair pushed it toward them.
"Plenty more in 'Combe," he said, with a smile, "and this will last me
some time."
Then he rode on, having made, by a few pleasant words and two cigars,
two friends who would have risked their lives on his behalf.
He reached 'Combe at last, the colt having settled down to a steady
pace, and putting him up at the hotel stables, he went into the town to
buy Margaret's things, even before he had his lunch.
There was a very good artist's colorman, and he displayed a selection
of portable easels, and canvases, and colors which bewildered Blair.
"Look here," he said, at last; "you know the sort of things a lady
wants, don't you know. Just put up as much as I can carry on horseback,
and send the rest to this address."
This being the kind of order a shopkeeper's soul delighteth in, the man
beamed, and soon had a very bulky looking heap collected in the middle
of the shop.
"All right," said Blair; "sure you have got everything?"
The man, after vainly endeavoring to think of some other useless
articles, said rather grudgingly, "Yes."
"Very well then. What's the damage? I'll put the paint boxes in my
pockets, and I can tie a small parcel of the other things to the
saddle, and the rest you can send on; but mind, I want them sent at
once! You people down here are rather slow sometimes. I can't have this
lady kept waiting."
He gave the address, paid the bill, which did not in the least astonish
him, though our friend had charged about fifty per cent. above his
usual prices--and afterwards almost wept because he hadn't stuck on
double!--and then went to the hotel and had his lunch.
He made a very hearty meal, for Blair, in love or trouble, being as
strong as a lion and always on the move, was a capital trencherman, and
then went over to look at the town.
He was in the humor to be pleased with anything, and the place, with
its picturesque coast scenery and general air of brisk cheerfulness,
just suited him.
"I'll bring Madge here, by George!" he said to himself. "She'll be
delighted with it."
To give her some idea of the place he bought a dozen or two photographs
and stuffed them in his pockets; then he saw a trinket cleverly made of
the tiniest shells set in silver, and he bought that.
Some little time he spent sitting on a seat on the walk round the
Capstan Hill, and would have stayed longer, but suddenly there came
round the corner a figure he knew.
It was that of Colonel Floyd. Blair, forgetting that he was supposed
to be on the Continent, was just jumping up to greet him with a hearty
"Hallo, old man!" when he remembered himself, and catching up a
newspaper, got behind it. The colonel lounged past in his languid, _nil
admirari_ fashion, and passed out of sight.
Blair let the paper fall, and for the first time that morning his face
grew clouded.
"Confound all this mystery and concealment!" he muttered, impatiently.
"By George! I'll have no more of it! I hate this skulking about like a
bank-clerk who has bolted with the till and is dodging the detectives.
I'll have no more of it! I'll take Madge to the earl next week, and
make a clean breast of it. Even he can't be such a savage as not to
melt at that smile of hers."
The resolution brightened him, as all good resolutions do, and
considering that the colt had had rest enough, he went back to the
hotel, and ordered him to be brought round.
The colt was in excellent spirits, and Blair rode along, humming a song
and thinking of Margaret--and his dinner.
The color tubes rattled in his pockets, and his bulging pockets banged
against his side, but he didn't mind in the least; he was doing
something for his Madge.
By this time--he had not hurried going, and had been a good spell in
the pretty town--the sun was setting, and the black mass of cloud was
rising portentously.
"We shall get wet jackets, my friend," he said to the colt, and he put
him to a quicker pace.
Mindful of the short cut which the men had pointed out in the morning,
he rode up the rather steep hill, and without any difficulty found the
lane.
It was, as they had said, a narrow lane, between two high banks. There
was a tree here and there, and every now and then a gate opening into
the fields on either side; it was steep, too, and not very easy, and
Blair was obliged to go slowly.
"Seems to me," he said to the colt, "that we could move faster going
across the downs, my friend. Never mind, it's a long lane that has no
turning! Jove, here it comes!" he broke off, as a flash of lightning
and a clap of thunder burst forth.
"Steady, old man, you are master, you know; I'm a stranger."
The rain dropped suddenly, in a sheet, as it seemed, and Blair stopped
to turn up his coat collar, and see that Madge's tools were protected
by the lappets of his pockets. He had very little objection to getting
wet himself, but he meant to carry home the day's spoil to her
uninjured, if he could manage it.
At the moment he was fumbling with the reins, held loosely in his hand,
a shout, a yell was heard behind him.
It was man's voice, presumably; but it was so unearthly, so discordant,
that even Blair started. As for the colt, he gave one side-way jump,
then started off helter-skelter, mad with fright.
"Steady, old man!" said Blair, tightening the rein. "It was a rum
noise, but don't lose your head. Steady!" and he laughed.
But the laugh died on his lips, for, while the horse was still on the
bolt, he saw one of the field gates lying right across the narrow road.
Now, at any time, this is a sight which is calculated to make a
horseman look and feel serious; because however slowly the horse may be
going, if he is not pulled up in time before he reaches the prostrate
gate, his legs will get entangled in the bars, and he must inevitably
fall. But when a horse is bolting, the situation becomes dangerous and
deadly.
To pull him up in time Blair saw would be impossible, even for him. He
looked swiftly at the banks on either side, with the idea of turning
him up them, but they were too high. There was only one thing to do,
and that was to drop off as easily as possible as the horse fell.
A moment more and the catastrophe came. The runaway horse's fore-feet
struck between the top bars, his off hind leg caught the lower one, and
with a crash and a startled shake of the head, the colt came down all
of a heap.
Blair had been ready a moment before, and as the horse fell he managed
to get out of the stirrups and roll out of the saddle.
It was nicely and cleanly done, as only a steeplechaser could have done
it, and he was on his legs and bending over the horse almost the next
instant.
Plunging and kicking, the colt tried to extricate himself from the
awful trap, and Blair had coaxed him on his legs, and was leading him
out when he heard a strange noise behind him, and saw a tall form
standing on the bank above his head.
At that instant, for the first time the thought of foul play occurred
to him. Grasping the bridle with one hand and his whip with the other,
he turned and looked up.
The sky was black as night, but a flash of lightning clove the heavens
just then, and by its lurid light he saw the face of Jem Pyke. He
thought that he was dreaming. It seemed too incredible. When last he
had seen the man it had been at Leyton, where Pyke lived. How could he
possibly be here?
He gazed up at him for a second or two, which seemed an age; then he
opened his lips to speak, but the thunder roared and blotted out his
voice.
With a wild laugh the man glowered down upon him motionless as Blair
himself, then, with a spring, threw himself upon him.
Blair squared his shoulders to meet the shock, but Pyke, though lean,
was tall, and his long form, aided by the impetus of his leap, bore
Blair to the ground.
There was a terrible struggle, at which the frightened horse stood
looking as if it were a horrified human being; then Pyke got his
fingers round Blair's throat, and, pressing against it, shook him
heavily.
"At last!" he shouted, between a hiss and a growl. "At last,
mister! I've waited a long time, but it's my turn now, I think. You
fine-tongued gentleman! I'll--I'll kill you. You thought I'd forgotten
you, eh? You thought I was going to let you go scot free, did you? Ah!
you'll know me better when I've done with you."
Blair struggled as hard as he could, but the man's long, bony fingers
were like steel, and, with a shrug of his shoulders, he felt that his
time had come. But even at that moment the old spirit came to the
front, and, though he could not speak, he smiled up at the livid face
of his assailant.
The smile seemed to madden the man.
"What! you grin, do ye?" he said, between his teeth. "I'll teach you!
I'll humble you!" Then an idea seemed to strike him, and, kneeling on
Blair's chest, he said, "But I'll give you a chance, my lord, even now,
curse me if I don't. Say, 'I beg your pardon,' and I'll let you go."
With the intention of giving Blair an opportunity for the apology, his
grasp slackened slightly.
It was a small opening, but Blair seized it.
With a tremendous effort he writhed himself free, and grasping Pyke by
the forearm, raised himself to his feet, and forced Pyke to his knees.
"You miserable hound!" he said, with his short, curt laugh. "Beg your
pardon, you mad fool! I'll teach you to set traps for a good horse,
that's worth ten of you! You put the gate there, did you? Look here,
I'll make you carry it back to its place before I've done with you! Ah,
and beg my pardon, too, into the bargain!" and with a tremendous force
he flung the man backward.
Pyke was on his feet instantly, and the two men confronted each other,
not as they had done on Leyton Green, for then Blair's face wore a
smile, and there was joy and contentment in his heart, at the prospect
of a fair fight, but now he knew that it would be as foul as his
opponent could make it.
The sky grew blacker; the rain pelted down upon them, but neither of
them noticed the weather.
With a bound they sprung at each other, dealing heavy blows, and taking
them as if they were feather-down. The result was a foregone one.
Blair had been riding, the man had been walking, and was weakened by
passion. His blows grew lighter and slower, his breath came in short,
deep gasps; Blair knew that another minute would make him the victor,
and, already relenting, he was about to call to Pyke and offer him
quarter, when the man, stepping back, pointed beyond Blair, and shouted:
"Look! the lady!"
Blair turned. There was only one lady that could rush to his mind, and
that was Margaret, and he thought, in the flash of the moment, that she
had come to meet him. He turned, and Pyke caught up a heavy stick that
lay where he had dropped it at his first spring, and struck Blair an
awful blow on the back of the head.
Without a cry he went down face foremost, his arms outstretched, and
lay like a figure carved in stone.
Pyke stood over him, looking down at him with livid face and panting
breath.
There was a pause in the storm at that moment, as if the wind and the
rain had stopped to look on; then the elements resumed their warfare,
and a flash of lightning played over the prostrate man's head.
Pyke went down on his knees, and with trembling hands turned the
motionless form on its face, and peered at it.
Then he started back with an oath.
"I've done for him!" he muttered, hoarsely, and the wind seemed to echo
mockingly: "Done for him." "He's as dead as a herring! Curse him, it
serves him right!" he ground out, and he raised his foot, but withheld
the kick as a thought--the thought of self-preservation--came to him.
"Looks ugly!" he muttered, "cursed ugly. There's more trouble in this
than I thought on!"
He looked up and down the lane and across the hedge with the keen,
fearful face of a man who already hears the pursuers; then buttoning
his wet coat round him, and giving a parting glance at the still form,
began to run--like Cain.
He went in the direction of Lee, and was so absorbed in the one idea of
flight, that a dark object which stood beside the hedge just before him
made him spring aside, and almost shout with fear.
But it was only the colt, which, too frightened by the storm, and
disheartened by the rain, was cowering under the lee of the hedge.
Pyke was hurrying by it, when he pulled up suddenly, and struck his leg
as if welcoming an inspiration.
"Dang it!" he cried, exultingly, "that's the game. Woa, horse, woa,
horse," and he crept slowly up to the colt.
The animal was far too cowed to attempt flight, and Pyke got hold of
the bridle easily. But he did not mount. Instead, he unfastened one
stirrup and struck the colt with it. The horse, maddened by fear,
started and shook, then tore down the lane at breakneck pace.
Pyke waited a moment listening to the clatter of its hoofs mingling
with the rain and the thunder, then quickly retracing his steps
returned to Blair.
He still lay where his assailant had left him. Pyke knelt down and
thrust one unresisting foot into the stirrup, then he dragged the body
for a few yards along the wet road and left it lying on its back,
leaped over the hedge and fled. But once more he came back, and lifting
the gate replaced it on its hinges and fastened it.