e long
avenue of Shale Court half-an-hour later. The storm had been long in,
gathering, and he judged that he would yet have time to reach his
destination before it broke. But it was nearer than he thought, and the
first dull roar of its coming reached him soon after he had passed the
gates. He shrugged his shoulders at the sound and hurried on, for he was
in no mood to turn back. The business before him was one that could not
be shirked, and the lines on his dark face showed unyielding
determination as he went.

He was half-way up the drive when the first flash of lightning glimmered
eerily across the heavy gloom. It was followed so swiftly by a burst of
thunder that he realized that he had no time to spare if he hoped to
escape the threatening deluge. He broke into a run, covering the ground
with the ease of the practised athlete, elbows at sides and head up,
going at an even pace which he knew he could maintain to the finish
without distress.

But he was not destined to run to a finish. As he rounded a bend that
gave him a view of the house in the distance, he suddenly heard a voice
call to him from the deep shadow of the trees, and checking sharply he
discerned a dim figure coming towards him across the grassy ride that
bordered the road.

He diverted his course without a moment's thought, and went to meet it.

"Ah, how kind of you!" said Juliet. "And there's going to be such a
downpour in a minute."

"What is the matter?" he said, her hand in his.

She was smiling a difficult smile. "Nothing very much. Not enough to
warrant my extreme selfishness in stopping you. I have given my foot a
stupid twist, that's all, and it doesn't like walking."

"Take my arm!" said Green.

She took it, her white face still bravely smiling. "Thank you, Mr.
Green."

"Lean hard!" he said.

She obeyed him, and he led her, limping, to the road, Columbus, the
ever-faithful, trudging behind.

"It really is a shame," she said. "We shall both be drenched now."

He glanced at the threatening sky. "It may hold off for a bit yet. What
were you doing?"

"I was coming to see you," she said.

"To see me!" His look came swiftly to her. "What about?"

"About Robin," she answered simply. "I wasn't in the car when it
happened, but I heard all about it when Mrs. Fielding came in. Mr. Green,
I hope you haven't been very hard on him."

Green was silent for a moment. "And you started straight off to come to
the rescue?" he said then.