It was time to
make haste, for the sun was setting. A mile from Apricale he saw a
cloud of dust ahead of him, and he knew that he had the kidnappers in
sight. He slowed down, for he did not wish to be seen by them. Then
when the dust-cloud vanished into the straggling town, he hurried on
again, for if they pushed on through the darkness, he would have to
follow by the sound of their wheels.
He came through Apricale at a moderate speed. Then a mile beyond it,
as he came to the top of a little hill, he saw the carriage moving
slowly down an avenue, to a house on the left, some hundred yards from
the road. He stopped the car with a jerk, backed it a little way down
the hill, and from the brow watched the carriage drive up to the house.
Then the sun set, and the swift twilight fell.
He set about filling up the petrol tank, and making sure that the lamp
was ready to light. Then he backed the car into a clump of trees, and
set out across the fields for the house. It was the dark hour after
sunset, and he found most of the bushes thorny. Presently he came into
a deserted garden, overgrown with rank weeds and unclipped shrubs. He
hoped devoutly that the scorpions and tarantulas would await the
passing of the sunset chill in their lairs.
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