Kent Park covered several acres and Frieda wandered further from the house than she knew. After a time the road which she had taken curved into a path leading into the woods. There was a fairly heavy forest near by, which was a part of the Kent estate and she strolled into this.
Later, Frieda sat down for a few minutes. She was in no hurry to return home, except in time for dinner which was at a late hour, according to the English custom. Not that she meant to appear at dinner, but that Jack or Olive would be sure to seek her at that time.
Frieda made rather a charming picture amid the scene she had unconsciously chosen for herself. She was sitting on the trunk of a tree which had fallen from the weight of years and infirmities. There was a little clearing behind her and, as she had taken off her hat, the sun shone on her bowed head and shoulders. She wished very much that she could stop thinking about a number of things, for Frieda was one of the people who resent having to grow up and there are more of them in this world than we realize.
Then, suddenly, Frieda heard an odd noise, which at least startled her sufficiently to bring the result she had been wishing for, since it made her stop thinking of unpleasant things. The noise was not loud and it would have been difficult to have explained exactly what the sound was. Only Frieda for the first time realized that she had been unwise in having come so far away from the house without mentioning to anyone where she was going.
The woods in which she was resting was a portion of the game preserves belonging to the Kent Estate, or a portion of land set apart for hunting at certain times of the year on English estates. But no one is supposed to hunt on this land except the owner of the estate and the friends whom he may care to invite.
Frieda, of course, had stayed long enough in England on other visits to understand that poachers are more or less frequent. She thought perhaps the noise she had heard was a man in hiding, who had been hunting and feared she might report him. The fact that it was summer time, when hunting was infrequent, made no impression upon her.
In a Few Moments She was in a Panic
At first, however, she was not seriously frightened, although she concluded to hurry back to Kent House as quickly as possible.
But when she started back through the woods, whoever it was in hiding evidently attempted to follow her. The faster she walked, the faster the footsteps came on behind.