ng of face could be seen, only--and this dimly by
the starshine--the hand that grasped the shawl. But it was enough; a
man's hand, the doctor could almost swear. He recognised this with a
slight thrill. He was not afraid, but he was undeniably excited.

What on earth should a man be doing in woman's clothes, on this road
and at this hour? The road led no whither but to Polpeor and the
coast, and passed on its way no human habitation but Landeweddy Farm
and a couple of cottages half a mile beyond it, close under the dip
of the hill. . . .

'You are shivering,' said Doctor Unonius, after a pause.

The crouching figure nodded, but did not speak.

'Are you cold? Here, take some more of the rug.'

For a moment there was no answer, then a shake of the head.

'Ill, then? Feverish? I am a doctor: let me feel your pulse.'

His companion made a quick gesture as if to hide the hand grasping
the gig-rail: but after another pause, and as if reluctantly, it was
reached across. The other still clutched the shawl.

Doctor Unonius, drawing off his right-hand glove with his teeth,
reached across also and laid his fingers in professional fashion on
the wrist. Yes; he was right. The wrist was a man's wrist, large
and bony. He screwed up his eyes and peered down as well as he might
at the upturned hand. He could see that the finger-tips were square,
and the palm, if he mistook not, showed a row of callosities at the
base of the fingers. Something in the pulse's beat caught his
attention, and almost at the same moment his nostrils expanded
suspiciously. Doctor Unonius had a delicate sense of smell.

'This man,' he thought, 'is in a blue fright; and moreover, and
although he smokes a deal of rank tobacco, I am open to bet he is a
butcher by trade.'

He relaxed the pressure of his fingers very slightly, and the hand
was sharply withdrawn.

Almost at the same moment the doctor's own hand went swiftly to his
head. There was a tug at the reins, and it fetched old Dapple up
with a sprawl.

'My hat is gone!' exclaimed the doctor.

Sure enough it was: and as he leaned and peered after it, he could
just discern it for a moment before it dropped like a sable bird
against a dark furze bush a few yards away to the left.

'My hat is gone,' he repeated.

His companion did not budge, hardly so much as turned a glance, but
sat as before, shivering and dumb.

'I am very sorry to trouble you, ma'am,' ventured the doctor
poli