ftly off down the road. Bridge Lane was
away at the opposite side of the town, a part which he had not visited
before; and he had to dismount several times to make inquiries before
he finally reached the door of Mrs. Budd's cottage. Having delivered his
message, he had nothing further to do than turn his machine round and
ride home. At this point the thought struck him that in coming through
the town he had gone a longer way than he need have done, and that a
road branching off to the right would be a shorter cut back to the
suburb in which his uncle's house was situated.

He rode on for ten minutes, and then slackened speed, for he began to
doubt whether he was, after all, on a more direct route. Though quiet
and deserted, the road was lit at intervals with gas lamps, and by their
uncertain light Brian saw a man some distance on ahead, walking in the
same direction as that in which he himself was going.

"I'll ask that fellow if I'm right," he muttered, and increased his pace
with a vigorous thrust on the pedals.

The man did not hear the noiseless approach of the bicycle until it was
close behind him; then he turned quickly as the rider slowed down and
spoke.

"Can you tell me--" Brian began, but he got no further. For a moment he
entirely lost control of the machine, with the result that he narrowly
missed being upset in the gutter. A gas-lamp was close at hand, and in
its light he had a full view of the stranger's face, and recognized him
in a moment--William Cole!

Brian was, perhaps, not quite so easily frightened as Elsie; it never
struck him that the figure before him was anything but flesh and blood;
still, the sudden appearance on a dark road of a man whom everybody
believed to have been drowned so astonished him that it was a few
moments before he recovered even the use of his tongue.

He put on the brake, and jumped off his machine; but the man had already
turned, and was making off hurriedly in the opposite direction.

"William! Stop a moment!"

The man paid no attention. There was a stile close at hand; he turned,
jumped over it, and disappeared in the darkness.

Here was indeed a mystery; and Brian, for some reason, felt that he must
discover what it meant. Leaving his bicycle propped against the
lamp-post, he dashed off in pursuit. Being a fast runner, and in good
training from football, he soon recovered the little advantage which the
man had gained at the start, and overtook him before he had