You promised to save me.”
“I will if I can.”
She knotted her hands in mental anguish.
“You must. Any moment he may return. Have you thought of nothing?”
Leaning across his shoulder she lifted the ragged curtain, peering out
at the fading landscape; as she gazed, her face stiffened and her eyes
became fixed in a leaden stare. Not more than thirty yards distant,
with his back toward them, the Major was standing. He had followed their
trail still closer.
“We can't escape,” she panted. “He'll be there all night, to-morrow,
forever.”
“We can. Stop here and trust me.”
Rising stealthily, leaving the door ajar behind him, he slipped out
of the hut. In the twilight he halted, breathing in the sweet evening
fragrance. Without further secrecy, he strode toward the Major.
“Good evening. I've been expecting you.”
At the first word the Major spun round, alertly on the defensive.
“I have your prisoner,” he continued. “I found I had no taste for being
added to her list of victims. I'll be glad if you'll take her off my
hands. She's in there.” He jerked his thumb across his shoulder.
The Major eyed him fiercely. “How d'you mean, you were expecting me?”
Hindwood laughed. “I caught sight of you last night in Varensky's garden
and this morning on the downs. I didn't let you know, because there were
things I was anxious to investigate.”
“For instance?”
“The purpose of her game.”
“And you've satisfied yourself?”
“At the risk of my life--yes. When you warned me against being romantic,
I thought you were merely jealous. Fortunately or unfortunately,
whichever way you like to put it, I know now that everything you told me
was correct.”
“Humph!”
The Major twirled his mustaches thoughtfully.
In the last of the daylight he looked like a lean, white cat.
His coolness began to wear on Hindwood's nerves. “I suppose your men are
hidden. Let's make an end.”
“I have no men.” The Major spoke slowly. “You forget that this woman is
my wife. I wished to spare her as much as possible by making the arrest
myself!” His eyes narrowed shrewdly. “How did you manage to secure her?”
“Luck. She had an accident. It's too long a story. She can't get away.
I'm through; I've done my share.”
As he turned to go, the older man stretched out a delaying hand. His
iron discipline wavered. “It's not a cheerful task. If you'll be so good
as to stay--”
“If you feel like that--”
“I daren't allow myself to feel. It's something I owe my country.”
As though afraid that he would weaken, the Major set out at a run across
the turf. Outside the hut he waited. As Hindwood caught up with him, he
whispered:
“Two men against one woman! For an old soldier it isn't gallant.”
He was on the point of entering, when he felt himself flung violently
forward. Hindwood's arm was crooked about his throat, shutting off his
breath. Bursting into the hut, he was hurled to the floor and found
himself struggling in the darkness. He was being pressed down and down.
A voice spoke, the accents of which a minute ago had been friendly.
“Close the door. Get something to bind him. Anything that will hold.
Tear strips off your dress.”