The village was dark and silent, for its inhabitants retired early to
bed. By good fortune the sky was overcast with heavy clouds and not even
the glimmer of a star relieved the gloom.
They put McNutt on the back seat with Louise, cautioned him to be quiet,
and then drove away. Dan Brayley's place was two miles distant, but in
answer to Peggy's earnest inquiry if she knew the way Beth declared she
could find it blind-folded. In a few moments Louise had engaged the
agent in a spirited discussion of the absorbing "mystery" and so
occupied his attention that he paid no heed to the direction they had
taken. The back seat was hemmed in by side curtains and the canopy, so
it would be no wonder if he lost all sense of direction, even had not
the remarks of the girl at his side completely absorbed him.
Beth drove slowly down the main street, up a lane, back by the lake road
and along the street again; and this programme was repeated several
times, until she thought a sufficient distance had been covered to
convince the agent they had arrived at Brayley's. They way was pitch
dark, but the horse was sensible enough to keep in the middle of the
road, so they met with no accident more than to jolt over a stone
now and then.
But now the most difficult part of the enterprise lay before them.
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