to one's own. He had the awkwardness of feeling, that, whether he would
or no, he was obliged to intrude upon them. He noticed they were not
walking near together; but when one is tramping and picking steps as
best one can in mud that is hidden in darkness, it is, perhaps, more
natural that two people on a wide road should give one another a wide
berth. At any rate, for a minute all three were making their way through
puddles and over rough places in silence. Then, when Alec thought he had
got a few paces in advance, he heard the lady speak again, and of
himself.

"Did you think you knew that man?"

There was no answer. Alec felt angry with her companion that he should
dare to sulk so obviously. After a minute or two more of fast walking,
she said again:

"I can't think where he has gone to. Do you see him anywhere?"

To this again there was no answer. Alec naturally went the quicker that
he might get out of hearing. As he did so he wondered much that his
fellow-travellers went so fast, or rather that the lady did, for she,
although some way behind, seemed to keep very near to him.

On they went in silence for ten minutes more, when the lady again took
up her reproachful theme. Her voice was quieter now, but amid the
harmonious sounds of wind and river he still heard it distinctly. The
clear enunciation of her words seemed to pierce through the baffling
noises of the night as a ray of light pierces through darkness, albeit
that there was excitement in her tones, and her speech was, interspersed
with breathless pauses.