There was a main gateway of lichen-studded
stone, each side pillar surmounted by mouldering heraldic em-
blems, but besides this central carriage drive I observed several
points where there were gaps in the hedge and paths leading
through them. The house was invisible from the road, but the
surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.
The heath was covered with golden patches of flowering
gorse, gleaming magnificently in the light of the bright spring
sunshine. Behind one of these clumps I took up my position, so
as to command both the gateway of the Hall and a long stretch of
the road upon either side. It had been deserted when I leift it, but
now I saw a cyclist riding down it from the opposite direction to
that in which I had come. He was clad in a dark suit, and I saw
that he had a black beard. On reaching the end of the Chdrlington
grounds, he sprang from his machine and led it through a gap in
the hedge, disappearing from my view.
A quarter of an hour passed, and then a second cyclist ap-
peared. This time it was the young lady coming from the station.
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