Trevna," and after peering cautiously down to make sure
the dead man had not moved, they dropped into the well again.

The shrivelled figure was very light, as Trevna had found. It was only
their repugnance at handling it that made their task a heavy one. One
above and one below, they managed at last to get it up above ground, and
then John Trevna slipped his belt to its middle, and carried it with one
hand down the slope to the boat.

There they found Evan Morgan holding the approach to the landing-place
against Peter, with a lump of rock, while Philip, in the boat below,
stood shouting at them to know what was the matter.

At sight of the others and their burden, however, he had no eyes for
anything else.

"What have you got there, John Drillot?"

"A dead man."

"Aw, then! That's not Gard."

"It's the only man here, anyway. Pull close up, Philip--"

"Not in my boat, John Drillot!" from Peter.

"We must take this to the Senechal," said John angrily. "If you don't
want to come you can wait here. If you don't make less noise, I will
knock you on the head myself," and he jumped down into the boat, and
took the dead man from Trevna, and laid him carefully in the bows. The
others jumped in, and Peter, sooner than be knocked on the head or left
behind, sulkily followed, and sat himself on the extreme edge of the
stern as far away from the dead man as he could get.

CHAPTER XXXII

HOW JULIE MEDITATED EVIL

Nance had crouched all the morning, in the bracken above Breniere, on
the knife-edge of expectancy. And behind her, at a safe distance,
crouched Julie Hamon, watching Nance and L'Etat at the same time, as a
cat in the shade watches a sparrow playing in the sunshine.

"What will be the end? What will be the end?" sighed Nance. They had all
gone down out of sight, across there, and it was terrible to sit here
waiting, waiting, waiting for what she feared.

If they had indeed run Gard to his hiding-place, as Philip Vaudin had
said, there could be but one possible end to it; and she sat, sad-eyed
and wistful, waiting for them to come up again.

It seemed as if they would never come, and she never took her eyes off
the rock wall on L'Etat.

And then at last she sprang to her feet. One of them had come up again.
She could not see which. Then the others appeared, and they seemed to
stand talking. Then one went off round the slope and another ran after
him, and the other two went back into the rock wall