For
company's sake I hulloed to Esm?, who had lagged somewhat behind.
With a few springy bounds he drew up level, and then shot past us.
"The wailing accompaniment was explained. The gipsy child was
firmly, and I expect painfully, held in his jaws.
"'Merciful Heaven screamed Constance, 'what on earth shall we do?
What are we to do?'
"I am perfectly certain that at the Last Judgment Constance will
ask more questions than any of the examining Seraphs.
"'Can't we do something?' she persisted tearfully, as Esm?
cantered easily along in front of our tired horses.
"Personally I was doing everything that occurred to me at the
moment. I stormed and scolded and coaxed in English and French
and gamekeeper language; I made absurd, ineffectual cuts in the
air with my thongless hunting-crop; I hurled my sandwich case at
the brute; in fact, I really don't know what more I could have
done. And still we lumbered on through the deepening dusk, with
that dark uncouth shape lumbering ahead of us, and a drone of
lugubrious music floating in our ears. Suddenly Esm? bounded
aside into some thick bushes, where we could not follow; the wail
rose to a shriek and then stopped altogether.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33