wo gipsy lads.

A feeling of desire sprang up at once in him to see the spot again, and,
meaning to go in among the trees till he had passed over the ground on
his way along the edge of the wood to where he could strike across to
the deep lane, he waded over the pebbles of the little stream, dried his
boots in the soft, white sand on the other side, and ran lightly up the
bank, to step at once in among the leaves and beech-mast.

It was delightfully cool and shady after the hot sunshine of the moor,
and he was winding in and out among the great, smooth tree-trunks,
looking for the spot where he had had his struggle, when he fancied that
he heard the murmur of voices not far away.

"Fancy--or wood pigeons," he said to himself; and, involuntarily
imitating the soft, sweet _too roochetty coo roo_ of the birds, he went
on, but only to be convinced directly after that those were voices which
he had heard; and, as he still went on in his course, he knew that,
after all, he was going to encounter Distin, for it was undoubtedly his
voice, followed by a heavy, dull utterance, like a thick, hoarse
whisper.

Vane bore off a little to the left. His curiosity was deeply stirred,
for he knew that Distin had received some kind of message, and he had
followed him, but it was with the idea of meeting him on his return.
For he could not play the eavesdropper; and, feeling that he had
inadvertently come upon business that was not his, he increased his
pace, only to be arrested by an angry cry, followed by these words,
distinctly heard from among the trees:

"No, not another sixpence; so do your worst!"

The voice was Distin's, undoubtedly; and, as no more was said, Vane
began to hurry away. He had nothing to do with Distin's money matters,
and he was walking fast when there was the rapid beat of feet away to
his right, but parallel with the way he was going. Then there was a
rush, a shout, a heavy fall, and a half-smothered voice cried "Help!"

That did seem to be Vane's business, and he struck off to the right
directly, to bear through a denser part of the wood, and come to an
opening, which struck him at once as being the one where he had had his
encounter with the gipsy lads. The very next moment, with every nerve
tingling, he was running toward where he could see his two enemies
kneeling upon someone they had got down; and, though he could not see
the face, he knew it was Distin whom they were both thumping with all
their