This brought me,
of course, to the stile leading into the plantation; but the path
there, as you know, takes a turn among the trees almost as soon as it
starts, and runs, moreover, through a pretty thick undergrowth.
The fellow, whoever he was, had disappeared.
"I can't say but what I was still puzzled, though the likeliest
explanation--indeed, the only likely one--seemed to be that my eyes
had played me a trick. I had pretty well made up my mind to this when
I turned away from the stile to have a look at the garden gate on the
other side of the lane; and over it, across the little stretch of
turf, I caught sight of the summer-house and of Major Brooks standing
there in the doorway with a bundle between his hands-a bundle of
something red, which he seemed to be wrapping round with a piece of
cord.
"Here, then, was the very man I had come to see; and here was a
chance of getting speech with him and without the awkwardness of
asking it through a servant, perhaps of having to invent an excuse
for my visit. Without more ado, therefore, I made bold to lift the
latch of the gate and step into the garden.
"At the sound of the latch--I can see him now--Major Brooks lifted
his head with a curious start, and tucked the bundle under his arm.
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