This business--the nature of which shall be explained hereafter--
completely engrossed him. Nor did he even hear the restless hum of
the bees at the mouth of the hive, ten paces away, nor the noisy
bustle of the drones. It was only when the swarm poured out upon the
air with a whir of wings and, darkening for an instant the sunny
doorway of the summer-house, sailed over the yew hedge towards the
road, that Tristram leapt to his feet and ran at full speed towards
the pavilion.
"The bees have swarmed!" he called out, thrusting his head in at the
library window.
Captain Barker dropped his pen, bounced up, and came rushing out by
the front-door.
"Where?"
"Down towards the road."
Years had not tamed the little hunchback's agility. Without
troubling to fetch hat or wig, he raced down the garden path, and had
almost reached the gate before Tristram caught him up.
"Up or down did they go?" he asked, standing in the middle of the
road, uncertain in which direction to run.
"Across, most likely; but higher up than this, by the line they
took," Tristram answered, pointing in the direction of the town.
"Hullo!"
"What is it?"
"Why, look: there--under the arch!"
Beneath the very centre of the triumphal arch, and directly under the
sacred name of King William, there hung a black object larger than a
man's head and in shape resembling a bunch of grapes.
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