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The quiet, and the gloom, and the dropping rain, strangely affected him now, as he plied his punt-pole; once he could have wept in his remorse, and another time he almost shrieked in fear. How lonesome it seemed! how dreadful! and that death-dyed face behind him ha! woman, away I say! But he neared the island, and, all shoeless as he was, crept up its muddy bank.
Nevertheless he was very glad when the last had found its place on the pile amidship. "Good boy!" said Mr. Kincaid. "Now it's all over." It was somewhat after twilight; although objects about were still to be made out in the unearthly half-illumination that precedes starlight. Mr. Kincaid lifted his punt-pole and allowed the duck-boat to be carried down wind to the other side of the pond.
"The train must ha' been poonctual," went on Bainton, staring stolidly at the shining water. "Amazin' poonctual for once in its life. For a one 'oss fly, goin' at a one 'oss fly pace, 'as jes' passed through the village, and is jiggitin' up to the Manor this very minute. I s'pose Miss Vancourt's inside it." Walden paused, punt-pole in hand. "Yes, I suppose she is," he rejoined.
The Eleventh Hour "Oh, to be a farmer's wife!" Doris Elliot paused, punt-pole in hand, to look across a field of corn-sheaves with eyes of shining appreciation. Her companion, stretched luxuriously on his back on a pile of cushions, smiled a contemplative smile and made no comment. The girl's look came down to him after a moment. She regarded him with friendly contempt.
"A water rat rose within a foot of me and a kingfisher was busy on a twig almost at my elbow. Twilight was just creeping along, and I could hear nothing but faint creakings of sculls from the river and sometimes the drip of a punt-pole. I thought the river seemed to become suddenly deserted; it grew quite abnormally quiet and abnormally dark.
In one, which is fashioned like a bird, there sits under a canopy a grandee, with an attendant in front and a rower or steersman at the stern. Behind him, in a second boat, is a band consisting of three undraped females, one of whom plays a harp and another a tambourine, while the third keeps time with her hands. A man with a punt-pole directs the vessel from the stern.
When he could find nothing else to damage, he would go out of his way to upset himself. He could not be sure of stepping from his own punt on to the boat with safety. As often as not, he would catch his foot in the chain or the punt-pole, and arrive on his chest. Amenda used to condole with him.
But then they might miss his second visit in this way, if he made a second visit. It was difficult. His eyes were fixed on the boat as he considered these things, and suddenly, as if materialized from nowhere, Cayley was standing by the boat. In his hand was a small brown bag. Cayley put the bag in the bottom of the boat, stepped in, and using an oar as a punt-pole, pushed slowly off.
With a curious desire to have her way with him, the girl waited with a little laugh. "Come!" she said softly. "You can't be interested in British politics." He looked at her with his friendly, silent smile, and followed her out. "Isn't it heavenly?" breathed Hilary, as she lay back on the velvet cushions and watched the man's strong figure bend to the punt-pole. "I think it is Heaven, Miss St.
But the night got darker and darker; the decoys heavier and heavier; the water colder and colder. Little by little the glory of the day was draining away. Mr. Kincaid, leaning strongly against the punt-pole, watched him for some time in silence. "Pretty hard work?" he enquired at last. "Yes, sir," said Bobby miserably. "Why is it hard?" Bobby looked up in surprise.
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