"Now, I'm ready," he said, as he thrust the money into his breast pocket.
"All right, guv'ner," was the response, "the carriage is right outside."
Herc, following his conductor, soon found himself inside a closed hack drawn by two horses. The messenger said something to the coachman and then threw himself in beside Herc. The carriage at once moved off at a rapid pace. Bartonville was not a very large place, and the town and its scattering outskirts were speedily left behind. The carriage began to roll and bump along over country roads.
"How far off is the place?" Herc kept asking, and each time he was assured that it was "only a little way further."
At last the carriage stopped on a deserted bit of roadway.
"Here's where we get out," said Herc's conductor, "we'll have to hike it across that field and through that bit of woods before we get to your pal."
Herc paid the coachman and the man at once drove off.
"This way," said the man, climbing over a rail fence and striking off across a field, on the further side of which was a patch of ragged woods. Through the trees Herc could catch the glint of water.