She had scarcely got over the shock of
this when plainly from the space beyond she heard a second
creaking noise, then the swinging to of another gate, followed,
after a breathless moment of intense listening, by a series of
more distant sounds, which could only be explained by the
supposition that the house door had been reached, opened and
passed.
"And you didn't follow?"
"I didn't dare."
"And she's in there still?"
"I haven't seen her come out."
"Then what's the matter with you?" called out a burly, high-strung
woman, stepping hastily from the group and laying her hand upon
the gate still standing temptingly ajar. "It's no time for
nonsense," she announced, as she pushed it open and stepped
promptly in, followed by the motley group of men and women who, if
they lacked courage to lead, certainly showed willingness enough
to follow.
One glance and they felt their courage rewarded.
Rumour, which so often deceives, proved itself correct in this
case. A second gate confronted them exactly like the first even to
the point of being held open by a pebble placed against the post.
And a second fence also! built upon the same pattern as the one
they had just passed through; the two forming a double barrier as
mysterious to contemplate in fact as it had ever been in fancy. In
gazing at these fences and the canyon-like walk stretching between
them, the band of curious invaders forgot their prime errand. Many
were for entering this path whose terminus they could not see for
the sharp turns it took in rounding either corner.
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