"Ha! Who calls?" answered the deep voice of Mr. Mortimer after two seconds' interval.
"Hucks. And I want a word with you."
The door opened a little way . . . and with that someone within the van uttered a cry, as a dark object sprang out over the flap, hurtled past Mr. Hucks, and hurled itself across the court towards the gate.
"'Dolph! 'Dolph!" called an agonised voice—a child's voice.
"The dog's daft!" chimed in Mr. Mortimer.
"'E'll kill 'im!"
As Mr. Hucks recovered his balance and stared in at the caravan doorway, now wide open, from the darkness beyond the gate came a cry and a fierce guttural bark—the two blent together. Silence followed. Then on the silence there broke the sound of a heavy splash.
CHAPTER VIII.
FLIGHT.
"_So all night long and through the dawn the ship cleft her way." —ODYSSEY, ii.