"And then, ladies--at first I thought of no danger to myself, but ran
for the gate, still groping as I went, for my eyeglasses; stumbled
across the lane somehow, and over the stile in vain chase of the man
I had glimpsed two minutes before. I say a vain chase, for I had not
plunged twenty yards into the plantation before--short-sighted mole
that I am--I had lost the track. I pulled up, on the point of
shouting for help, and with that there flashed on me the thought of
the Major's guineas in my pocket. If I called for help I called down
suspicion on myself, and suspicion enough to damn me. How could I
explain my presence in the garden? How could I account for the
money--straight from the Major's cashbox?"
Captain Branscome paused and gazed around upon us as if caught once
more in that terrible moment of choice. Miss Belcher met his gaze
and nodded.
"So the upshot was that you ran for it? Well, I can't say that I
blame you. But, as it happens, if you had stood still the cashbox
might have helped to clear you; for it was found next morning, half a
mile away in the brook, below my lodge-gate."
"And there's one thing," said Plinny, "we may thank God for, if it is
possible to be thankful for anything in this dreadful business.
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