'
'I believe it's the man with the pistol following us!'
'Nonsense. Why should he? Silly thing to do!' He spoke almost
severely.
'Look!' cried Elizabeth.
'What?'
'I saw someone dodge behind that tree.'
'You mustn't let yourself imagine things. Buck up!'
'I can't buck up. I'm scared.'
'Which tree did you think you saw someone dodge behind?'
'That big one there.'
'Well, listen: I'll go back and--'
'If you leave me for an instant I shall die in agonies.' She
gulped. 'I never knew I was such a coward before. I'm just a
worm.'
'Nonsense. This sort of thing might frighten anyone. I read a
story once--'
'Don't!'
Bill found that his heart had suddenly begun to beat with
unaccustomed rapidity. The desire to soothe, comfort, and protect
Elizabeth became the immediate ambition of his life. It was very
dark where they stood. The moonlight, which fell in little patches
round them, did not penetrate the thicket which they had entered.
He could hardly see her. He was merely aware of her as a presence.
An excellent idea occurred to him.
'Hold my hand,' he said.
It was what he would have said to a frightened child, and there was
much of the frightened child about Elizabeth then. The Eustace mystery
had given her a shock which subsequent events had done nothing to
dispel, and she had lost that jauntiness and self-confidence which was
her natural armour against the more ordinary happenings of life.
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