He looked sharply in the indicated direction, and a shout saluted us.
“It’s some of the boys,” he whispered. “Come on.” He led the way to a hedge, forced his way through, and I followed, and once more he led me along at a trot, with the great house right before us among the trees, and then, striking off to the right, he went through field after field, and then through a gate, and along by the side of a deep ditch, to stop short all at once, as a man started out of the hollow, and tried to hide a small gun.
“Why, Magglin,” cried Mercer, “you’re after rabbits.”
“Nay, nay; rats. They comes after the taters. Been fishing?”
“Come on,” whispered Mercer, and he ran along by the hedge, turning once more to the left, and at last pulling up in a clump of fir-trees, on the north side of the big house.
“Now then,” he said, “I daresay the Doctor hasn’t come back, and the ladies are sure to be with him. We’ll creep in by the front door and get up-stairs. Keep close to me.”
He paused for a few minutes to get breath, and then started off, through the shrubbery, across the lawn, and in at the front door.
The hall was empty, and he sprang up the well-carpeted staircase, reached the first floor, ran lightly along a passage, and through a baize door, which separated the Doctor’s part of the house from the boys’ dormitories.
“All right!” he whispered, as he held the baize door for me to pass through; “nobody saw us, and the boys will not be up here.”