gelot sat on the edge of the well and
waited. There were odd little sounds about him, the squeaking of young
animals, the sleepy chirp of easily disturbed birds; a frog dived with a
splash into the well, and then in a few unearthly croaks told his story
to his mates down there. The bracken smelt warm and dry; it was not a
bad place to spend a summer night in, for any one who knew wild nature
and loved it.

All was so still that Angelot, after listening intently for a time,
leaned his head against the white stones, fell asleep, and dreamed of
Helene. If he had carried her off that night, mad fellow as he was, some
such shelter might have been all he had to offer her.

He woke with a start, and saw by the light that he must have been asleep
at least two hours, for the moon was high in the sky. He got up
cautiously, and crept through the bracken to the edge of the grove
towards Les Chouettes.

It was fortunate that he took the precaution to move noiselessly, as if
he were stalking game, for he had hardly reached the edge of the wood
when he saw Simon standing in the moonlight. Evidently he had been
sitting or lying on the bank and had just risen to his feet, for one of
his comrades lay there still.

"He is hidden here. He must be here," said Simon, in a low, decided
voice. "I will not go away without him. Hungry and thirsty--yes, I dare
say you are. You deserve it, for letting him escape."

"I tell you, he is not here," said the other man. "We have been all
round this bit of country; all through it. And look at the moonlight. A
mouse couldn't get away without our seeing it. What's that? a rabbit?"

"I shall walk round again," said Simon. "Those other fellows may be
asleep, if they are as drowsy and discontented as you. Look sharp now,
while I am away."

Simon tramped down the lane. The other police officer stretched himself
and stared after him.

"I'll eat my cap," he muttered, "if the young gentleman's in the wood
still. He deserves to be caught, if he is."

At that moment Angelot was standing under an oak two yards away. In the
broad, deep shadow he was invisible. A longing seized him to knock the
man's cap off his head and tell him to keep his word and eat it. But
Simon was too near, and it was madness to risk the chase that must
follow. Angelot laughed to himself as he slipped from that shadow to the
next, the officer yawning desperately the while.

There was something unearthly about Les Chouettes in the m