wing prodigiously between each word, as though
he were fetching breath all the way from his heels, "I think I we may
conclude we are safe from them. We ought to thank our stars we came
across them in the way we did."

"But, doctor, what in the name of Heaven induced you to make such a
noise, to frighten them, in fact, and to tell them some one was about?"

"They were too much terrified to tell whether it was one, or fifty. By
this time they are out of the county; they knew what they were talking
about."

"And perhaps we may meet them on the road where we are going, thinking
it a rare lonely spot where they can hide, and no chance of their being
found out."

[Illustration]

"No," said the doctor; "they will not go to such a place; it has by far
too bad a name for even such men as those to go near, much less stop
in."

"I can hardly think that," said Charles Holland, "for these fellows are
too terrified for their personal safety, to think of the superstitious
fears with which a place may be regarded; and these men, in such a place
as the one you speak of, they will be at home."

"Well, well, rather than be done, we must fight for it; and when you
come to consider we have one pick and two shovels, we shall be in full
force."

"Well said, doctor; how far have we to go?"

"Not more than a quarter of a mile."

They pursued their way through the fields, and under the hedge-rows,
until they came to a gate, where they stopped awhile, and began to
consult and to listen.

"A few yards up here, on the left," said the doctor; "I know the spot;
besides, there is a particular mark. Now, then, are you all ready?"

"Yes, all."

"Here," said the doctor, pointing out the marks by which the spot might
be recognized; "here is the spot, and I think we shall not be half a
foot out of our reckoning."

"Then let us begin instanter," said Henry, as he seized hold of the
pickaxe, and began to loosen the earth by means of the sharp end.

"That will do for the present," said Chillingworth; "now let me and
Charles take a turn with our shovels, and you will get on again
presently. Throw the earth up on the bank in one heap, so that we can
put it on again without attracting any attention to the spot by its
being left in clods and uneven."

"Exactly," said Henry, "else the body will be discovered."

They began to shovel away, and continued to do so, after it had been
picked up, working alternately, until at length Charles stuck h