He talked the thing over with Mrs. Cork, and they decided upon it out of
hand. The truth is the old woman was beginning to regret that her love
and her curiosity had ever brought her back to Rylands, since so far she
had got much work and little credit by it.

When it was settled, Mr. Tebrick disposed of the remaining business he
had at Rylands in the afternoon, and that was chiefly putting out his
wife's riding horse into the keeping of a farmer near by, for he thought
he would drive over with his own horse, and the other spare horse tandem
in the dogcart.

The next morning they locked up the house and they departed, having
first secured Mrs. Tebrick in a large wicker hamper where she would be
tolerably comfortable. This was for safety, for in the agitation of
driving she might jump out, and on the other hand, if a dog scented her
and she were loose, she might be in danger of her life. Mr. Tebrick
drove with the hamper beside him on the front seat, and spoke to her
gently very often.

She was overcome by the excitement of the journey and kept poking her
nose first through one crevice, then through another, turning and
twisting the whole time and peeping out to see what they were passing.
It was a bitterly cold day, and when they had gone about fifteen miles
they drew up by the roadside to rest the horses and have their own
luncheon, for he dared not stop at an inn. He knew that any living
creature in a hamper, even if it be only an old fowl, always draws
attention; there would be several loafers most likely who would notice
that he had a fox with him, and even if he left the hamper in the cart
the dogs at the inn would be sure to sniff out her scent. So not to take
any chances he drew up at the side of the road and rested there, though