Evening star., 1935-01-04
CHAPTER XXXvI.
THE GOWLLANDS.

which led into the factory
grounds, where Jerry pro-
duced his keys The lock opened with
out the smallest difficulty, and whis-
ting to George, who had drifted of
on a tour of inspection, he stepped
through into the inclosure.
Good hunting!" was his parting
observation, and don't get too fresh
with Mrs. Gowlland. From what I
saw of her husband, I should think
he was nasty handful"
Left to myself, continued my way
along the outside of the fence, which
extended in a complete circle all
round the building. At the rear was
another gate, also closed and locked.
From this neglected looking road
trailed away inland. and following
1t for perhaps $50 yards, I arrived
at the entrance to narrow lane which
brahched off to the left in the di-
rection of the farm.
There was a stile here, leading into
the adjoining field. and seating myself
on the top rail, filled a pipe and
mediated for a little while on the
problem that confronted me.
What would be the best way of
dealing with Mrs. Gowlland, if were
lucky enough to catch her alone? 1t
would be easy to open the conversa-
ton by asking for some milk, but
to switch from that subject to the
private affairs of the late Mr.. Osborne
was a diplomatic feat, which seemed
likely to involve considerable difficult
ties.
How was I to account for my knoWl-
edge of the dead mans visit to Ham
bridge? No mention of this had been
made during the trial, and since she
must certainly be aware of that fact,
her natural conclusion would be that
I had derived my information either
from Sir William Avon or through
some private channel of my own.
I should be forced to put forward
one of these explanations. and the
question was which of the two seemed
the most promising. She had already
been closely questioned by Avon's rep
resentative who had apparently come
away empty-handed, and any further
catechism from the same quarter
might only result in arousing her re-
sentiment.
On the other hand, if I were to pose
boldly as a friend and conf1dant of
Osborne, I should be running a big
risk. Quite conceivably her opinion
of him might coincide with my own
and in that case. any small chance
had of winning her confidence would
be irretrievably lost.
It was a thorny question, and after
brooding over it carefully, I came to
the conclusion that I had better post
pone my choice until I discovered what
sort of woman I had to deal with.
She might prove a sour-natured
old crone who would bang the door
in my face or she might be simple
and garrulous soul quite ready for a
friendly gossip.
One supposition was just as prob
able as the other and the only thing
to do when the moment arrived
would be to adopt whatever tactics
struck me as being the most suitable
Having reached this decision, I slid
down from the stile and, relighting my
pipe which had gone out in the course
Of my reflections, set off along the
lane.
1t was really little more than a
mere cart-track leading. from all ap-
pearance, only to the farm. On both
sides low hedge shut it off from the
neighboring fields. while the surface
was so deeply rutted that in wet
weather traffic must have been almost
impossible.
I trudged along steadily for about
half mile and then, turning sharp
corner found myself suddenly con-
fronted by a wooden gate. Beyond
this lay a large struggling farrnyard
flanked on either hand by thatched
outbuildings.
An old hen with family of young
chicks was scratching about busily
in the mud-her contented clucking
being the only sound that broke the
silence. From somewhere close by
came the faint pleasant smell of
burning leaves.
7 advanced to the gate and, leaning
over the top bar, took leisurely
survey Of Mr.. GoWlland's property
On closer inspection I noticed that
the whole place had certain air OF
neglect From several of the roofs
the thatch was hanging down in rag
ged patches, While the window of
the big barn, which had apparently
been broken for some time, still
waited disconsolately for fresh pane
Of glass; it seemed to offer a silent
but eloquent comment upon what I
had already observed of the owners
habits and disposition.
I was looking about and taking in
these various details when I heard
the sound of approaching footsteps.
The next moment a woman appeared
round the corner of one of the out
houses. She was walking slowly,
with a heavy bucket in either hand,
and on seeing me she came to a sud-
den stop.
Mrs. Gowlland. for it could scarce
ly be any one else, was so utterly un-
like what I had expected that I was
almost betrayed into an exclamation
of astonishment.
In the first place she was unques-
tionably beautiful. Even the COM
mon print gown that she was wear
ing failed to conceal the perfectly
nodded lines of her figure, while a
of ho; +r,;efa