The Argosy — page 100: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The White Witch. 83 Hunt had not recognised Mary: it must then be indeed Mrs. Mayne who had reason to avoid him; but Mary might be intending to sacrifice herself in the cause of her mother. One especial question kept pressing itself upon Godfrey: could this midnight invader have been the detective —come in to search in secret for some proof or other of the former crime ; or else boldly to confront Mrs. Mayne and extort confession from her? When dawn had broken, Godfrey, who was still intensely restless, went into one of the rooms that overlooked the farm, and was just in time to see Dick Wilding get over the wall, and begin searching the flower-bed underneath the refectory windows. Dick had his head bandaged up and one arm in a sling. Godfrey’s first impulse was to go down stairs and waylay him ; but he changed his mind and watched. After carefully turning over the leaves of the nasturtiums Dick tried to open the window. Failing in that, Godfrey himself having made it secure, the lad turned and followed the course of black footmarks which Godfrey could see from where he stood: they were right through a geranium bed, about the window, and the gravel-path coming from the direction of the meadow. The ground was damp yet; and Godfrey supposed that the midnight intruder must have slipped, or otherwise brought his hands in contact with the earth, to account for the marks on the counterpane. Dick was evidently searching for something. He followed the footsteps carefully and minutely, until he disappeared from sight round a corner. Then Godfrey ran lightly downstairs, unbolted the door and went in pursuit. Dick was continuing his search across the meadow towards the avenue. As soon as he caught sight of Godfrey coming down upon him with a face like a thunder-cloud, he fled like the wind, reached the avenue, crossed it, jumped, rolled, slid down the wooded hill on the other side, and was lost among the brambles and bracken. Godfrey knew better than to try to follow him. * Allright, my lad; I’ll have you presently,” he called out to the still shaking bushes; and then heturned back, wondering what it was the imbecile had been in search of, and how he could run like that with his feet cut to pieces, as they must have been last night. But how was it, if Dick had been the intruder, that he, with his cat-like care- fulness and intimate knowledge of the place, had been so clumsy as to walk through a flower-bed. When Godfrey returned indoors, the household was astir. He went in through the refectory and up the back stairs three at a time, anxious not to be seen, and almost fell against Mary: who gave a low cry at sight of him. She was going from her mother’s to her own room, in her dressing-gown ; but instead of hurrying past Godfrey, she stopped short and stared at him blankly. His fair hair lay lank and disordered, his pale face and the dark rims round his eyes showed traces of a troubled night. Gomichoo (E(@) m