He grasped now how profoundly the order of the universe had changed for
him. He had come right away to this amazing experience, _without even
saying a word to his cousin Jane_!

What must she be thinking of him?

He tried to imagine it and he could not. He had an extraordinary feeling
that she and he were parted for ever and would never meet again. He felt
he had taken a step and come into a world of new immensities. What other
monsters might not those deepening shadows hide? The tips of the giant
nettles came out sharp and black against the pale green and amber of the
western sky. Everything was very still--very still indeed. He wondered
why he could not hear the others away there round the corner of the
house. The shadow in the cart-shed was now an abysmal black.

* * * * *

_Bang ... Bang ... Bang_.

A sequence of echoes and a shout.

A long silence.

_Bang_ and a _diminuendo_ of echoes.

Stillness.

Then, thank goodness! Redwood and Cossar were coming out of the
inaudible darknesses, and Redwood was calling "Bensington!"