Greenmantle

stma

flatter myself he would long be quiet, and when he came to he would kick the locked door to matchwood. I must

oot of the stairs,

rest office? There's one in the village, isn't there?' I spoke in my best

f at the foot of the avenue,' h

of an hour,' I said. 'Don

ft lying on a settle in the hall. There was nothing in it to compromise

think of the future yet, but must take one step at a time. I ran down the avenue

oon was rising, and as I approached I saw that there was some kind of a store. A funny little

stout woman with spectacles on her

ows that well. There is no connection from here after eight

looking for some excuse to g

and the post-wagon. Franz, you will be gla

ook to be assent, and finished off a glass of beer. Fro

I could hear the post-mistress enjoining Franz not to keep the gentleman waiting, and presently he came out and flopp

to talk, and, as he talked, he slowed down. This by no means suited my book, and I seriously wondered whether I should pitch him out and take charge of th

ue peaked cap, the uniform, I suppose, of the driver of the post-wagon, a

k my hat and clapp

I should be a gen

but put on his

the kind of garment I have always desired to own. In two days it will be the holy C

see how it looks,' I

as soon effected. He was about my height, and my ulster fitted not so badly.

for any folly. He drove so carelessly for a bit that he nearly put us i

he fine clothes which the most amiable Herr has given me. Wait for me, I will n

ng and loud voices. Then it shut, and looking back I saw that my idiot had been absorbed into

chief right, but I was a quarter of an hour doing it. The highway ran now in a thick forest and I noticed branches going off now and then to the right.

ly, wondering what was going to happen. I could hear the brakes being clamped on and the car slowin

up. It was that that saved me, that and his raging temper. The collar of the postman's coat was round my chin, hiding my beard, and I had his cap pulled well down o

rom Andersbach?' he roared, as

spoke in the best imitation I could man

uavered. 'He was a rude fellow who wanted to

ctly where he got down or

eft hand. I left him running among the trees.' I put all

err Colonel,' said the chauffeur.

d, I saw it turning. Then as it gathered speed it shot forward, and

dland road. The hard ground would show very few tracks, I thought, and I hoped the pursuit would think I had gone on to Schwandorf. But it wouldn't do to risk it,

site one of these I slewed the car to the edge, got out, started it again and saw it pitch head-foremost into the darkness. There was a splash of water and then silence.

I heard the sound of another car. I lay flat in a hollow below a tangle of snow-laden brambles and looked between the pine

, but had he tried half a dozen yards on he would have seen them turn towards the sandpit. If that had happened he would have beaten the adjacent woods

. That wasn't the direction I wanted, so I bore off at right angles, and presently struck another road which I crossed in a hurry. After that I got entangled in some confounded kind of enclosure and had to climb paling after paling of rough stakes

rom impulse to impulse. These impulses had been uncommon lucky, but I couldn't go on like that for ever.

for me up and down the land. I had heard that the German police were pretty efficient, and I couldn't see that I stood the slimmest chance. If they caught me they would shoot me beyond doubt. I asked myself on what charge, and answered, 'For knocking about a German officer.' They couldn't have me up f

than a thousand miles off, and I reckoned I couldn't get there as a tramp. I had to be sent there, and now I had flung aw

or I couldn't be above two score miles from the Danube. The second was that I had Stumm's pass. I didn't see how I could use it, but there it was. Lastly I had plenty of money-fifty-thr

these woods and I was sopping wet up to the knees. All the same I managed to sleep for some hours, and got up and shook myself j

eel a little better. In a little I saw a church spire, which meant a village. Stumm wouldn't be likely to have got on my tracks yet, I calculated, but there was alway

clock-there was nobody in the street except a wandering dog. I chose the most unassuming shop I could find, where a little boy was taking down the shu

my cap. I saw from my reflection in a saucepan that I looke

ocolate, a box of biscuits, the better part of a ham, two tins of sardines and a rucksack to carry them. I also bought some soap, a comb and a cheap razor, and a small Tourists' Guide, published by a Leipzig firm. As I was leaving I saw what seemed like garments hanging up in the back shop, and turned to have a look at them. They were the kind of thing that Germa

tea. In an icy pool I washed and with infinite agony shaved my beard. That razor was the worst of its species, and my eyes were running all the time with the pain of the operation. Then I took off the postman's coat and cap, and buried them be

ugh the village I had left would have taken me to it. I had only to walk due south and I would reach it before night. So far as I could make out there were long tongues of forest running dow

up to now, and, being warm-blooded by nature, it never used to worry me. A sharp winter night on the high-veld was a long sight chil

n the veld when the earth was like a great yellow bowl, with white roads running to the horizon and a tiny white farm basking in the heart of it, with its blue dam and patches of bright green lucerne. I thought of those baking days on the east coast

lowering sky, wet clothes, a hunted present, and a dismal future. I felt miserably depress

the feeling came, except that it is a kind of instinct that men get who have lived much in wild coun

following a spoor, but I knew that any ordinary Kaffir could have nosed it out easily. But he didn't need to do that. This was a civilized country full of roads and railways. I must some time and somewhere come out of the woods. He could have all the roads watched

the vale of a river with broad fields and church-spires. West and south the forest rolled unbroken in a wilderness of snowy tree-tops. There was no sign of life anyw

it, for the map showed me that in that direction I would soonest strike the Danube. What I was going to do when I go

s with the battalion in Hampshire. The bouts had been short for I had known of their coming and dosed myself. But now I had no quinin

ump of hollies and he was not looking my way, though he was not three yards off. I crawled forward to reconnoitre. I saw about half a mile of

e was no chance of getting across unobserved. As I lay there with my heart sinking, I had the horrible feeling t

I didn't see any way out, and I was feeling so ill that I did

that I couldn't see across the road. At first I thought it a new addition to my troubles,

e. A sudden access of strength came to me and I darted into the woods on the farther side. I knew I would be soon swa

olemn and quiet. But Heavens! how the snow fell! It was partly screened by the branches, but all the same it was piling itself up deep everywhere. My legs seemed made of lead, my head burned, and th

to see these things, and now I was fairly in the thick of them. There had been wolves, too, and I wondered idly if I should fall in with a pack. I felt myself getting light-headed. I

s. I was like a drunk man who keeps running, for he knows that if he stops he will fall, and I had a sort of bet with myself not to lie down-not at any rate just yet. If I lay down I should feel the pain in my head worse. Once I had ridden

to consciousness, and suddenly I felt with horrid intensity the fire in my head and bones and the weakness of my limbs. I longed to sleep, and

Very slowly I made my way to the door and knocked. My

as lifted from the window. Then the door opened and a w

while children peeped

leaned against the door-p

ir,' she said. 'You are sick and

n stared at me. It was a poor place, scantily furnished, but a good log-fire burned on the hearth. The sho

way. I am from Africa, where the climate is hot, and your cold brin

e said; 'but first I

erty was spelled large in everything I saw. I felt the tides of fever beginning to overflow my brain again, and I made a gr

ke of my work I must move in the dark. If you will permit it, mother, I will sleep till I

big seal as if i

eft in peace till you are well. We have no neighbours near, and the

ng to swim, but I m

y take it for your use. And here is some money to buy Christmas f

coarse nightgown. I seem to remember that she kissed my hand, and that she was crying. 'The good Lord has sent yo