Pagina 456 de 657

"Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel

Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I

should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the

time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat

at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than

once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me

with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good

in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I

tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we

were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out

nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now

and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the

journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the

conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the

road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive,

and the carriage came to a stand.