The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-22
CHAPTER xxx.

When Tankerlane left Black Hall after his interview with John Shil, he walked towards the west gate of the park, and, as good fortune would have 1t, he encountered one of the under keepers, who was just returning from his round on the hill farm. He stop
 ped the man, and, under the pretense
 of asking his way. engaged him in conversation. The man, who did not suspect that Tankerlane had any other motive than that of idle gossip. and who scented possible tip from a friend of his masters, spoke freely, and it was not long before the subtle mind of the bar onet led the conversation round to the
 subject on which he required informa- tion. Then, without asking any actual
 question, he ascertained what he wish ed to find out-namely, that John Shil had been away all the previous night | in the marshes. and had not returned till o'clock that afternoon.
 He gave the man five shillings said good night and followed the road which ran round the outside of the park. He was no detective. but he had certain amount of common sense, and was ca-
 pablo of drawing a reasonable infer
 ence from the facts in his possession.
 There was nothing peculiar in John
 ShiI spending his night in the marshes to shoot wild duck. but man usually returns from such an expedition in the morning and not in the afternoon.
 Now Tankerlane had already learned that a woman resembling Laura had
 been seen in the vicinity of Black Hall shortly after daybreak and, putting two and two together, he came to the conclusio nthat she had encountered John Shil before he returned to Black Hall. and that the latter had taken her to some hiding place in the marsh es, and then sailed back to his own home. The only thing he could not understand was how Laura was able to undertake a Journey if she were dam. gerously i'll. He was half inclined to think that Shil had lied to him.
 The result of his conclusions was that he resolved to watch the park on the side which faced the marshes. He Kept to the road as long as it an close to the wall and when it turned off inland, he followed a narrow path till it came to another road, one that bounded the park on the east. He followed this till he reached the little quay at the end of the creek.
 It was a moonlight night and he could see everything clearly. He mo- ticed the punt, and his first impulse was to get into it and row towards the sea. He pictured John Shil's face when he came down to the quay and found the boat gone.
 But a few moments thought con- vinced him of the hopelessness of such an enterprsei. He knew nothing of the creeks and the desolation of the marshland did not appeal to him. He coniured up visions of what might happen to him if he lost bis way rnd found himself stranded on a mudbank. And there might be other dangers lurking in that wilderness of marsh and water, of which he, a landsman if ever there was one, could lot even guess the magnitude. It would be cnly waste of time to grope about for Lau- ra's hiding place without a guide. and in a craft which appeared to possess neither speed nor safety.
 He resolved. therefore, to wait in the shadow of the trees, and see if Shil went down to the creek. If the latter rowed off in the punt. ne could leave at once for the nearest village, and try to obtain a boat and a man who knew the district
 He waited under the trees for two hours, and experienced a physical dis comfort that increased the bitterness of his spirit Sir William Tankerlane was not used to roughing it. and from his earliest boyhood he had been ae- customed to find everything that he wanted ready to his hand. But now he had not tasted food for several hours, he was exceedingly thirsty, and the cold raw air of the marshes chilled him from head to foot He did not dare to move about or stamp his feet, or even light a cigarette. He had all ready heard mems voices in the wood behind him. and he remembered that 'Shil had threatened to deal hardl sYRttk