The Colonel shook his head. "Who knows. He may be caught; on the other hand, he may bolt to South America and become one of those Dictators we read so much about. As The Spider, we know that he has heaps of brains, and a piratical life of that description would suit him exactly."
Talking thus, Towton showed Vernon over his small kingdom, and after luncheon the two gentlemen strolled out of the grounds with the intention of taking the winding road to Gerby Hall. On the verge of the moorland they stood for some time looking down into the cup, and Vernon thus procured a bird's-eye view of the valley in the full blaze of the noonday sun.
"It's like a bead on a string, Towton," he said after a pause.
The description was an apt one, for the hollow into which they were looking was the bead, and the narrow valley, running like an irregular crack to right and left, might be easily compared to a string. From the cup upward to Bolly Dam the valley stretched for a mile and a half, and downward it ran for two miles in a somewhat crooked fashion, to terminate on the verge of the undulating plain, which stretched the further ten miles to the railway station. At the end of the valley--as Towton informed his guest--was a village called, from its situation, Gatehead, and there were four other hamlets beyond, all of which belonged to him. The Hests were reduced to Bowderstyke village alone and to a considerable portion of the moorland on the hither side.
"It puts me in mind somewhat of Blackmore's description of Doon Valley," was Vernon's remark when in possession of these facts. "I daresay in the Middle Ages it was quite a robbers' stronghold."
"With the Hests and the Towtons as robbers. Exactly. Their hand was against every man, and likewise against each other for the mastery of Bowderstyke. At the upper end the valley is blocked by a small lake, now turned by the Bolly Dam into a very large reservoir, so they were safe in that direction. Gatehead was where their vassals lived to guard the outlet, so you can see in troublesome times everything was extremely safe. From this valley the Hests and the Towtons went forth raiding, and sometimes, when not quarrelling between themselves, formed a kind of league. They struggled for centuries, but in the end my ancestors got the upper hand, and most of the property. I believe the feud and the raiding continued down to the termination of George the Third's reign, for the King's writ did not run in these wilds."
"Where is Gerby Hall?"
Towton pointed directly downward. "Under that cliff, where the moorland rises so abruptly. Like The Grange, there is a kind of artificial forest round it, so that it is concealed. But, as you can see, it is almost within the village itself."
"Right in line of the flood, should the dam break."
"I fear so; but I hope there is no chance of the dam breaking. You see," added the Colonel pointing out the topography of the valley, "the village is divided by the ancient bed of the torrent, now comparatively dry since the construction of the Bolly Reservoir. A stone bridge connects the two portions of the village, and on this side nearest to ourselves the ground begins to rise gradually. The other portion of the village and Gerby Hall lie in the hollow, and are cut off from the sunlight. I often wondered," said Towton musingly, "why the Hests, when lords of the entire valley, should have chosen to build their manor house in such a situation; for, when the torrent was in full force from the melting of the moorland snows, they must have been exposed to many an inundation."