Getting over the wall, he remounted Random and rode away for assistance.
There was no one in sight. Then he espied two figures in the distance walking towards him; one was his father, the other Irene. They saw him, and his father waved his stick. There was no excuse; he had to pull up and meet them.
He was bewildered, at a loss what to do, what to say; and as he thought of Warren lying still in the churchyard he shuddered, and was almost tempted to make a bolt.
"You are not often out of the hunt," said the Squire. "Irene let the cat out of the bag, and told me you were here, and that Eli had borrowed Random for you. I am glad to see you out with the hounds again, but you ought to have come to breakfast."
"Have you had a fall, or missed the hounds?" asked Irene. "I am afraid I have taught Random bad manners. Have you seen Warren?"
He made no answer, but looked vacantly before him, and she said, anxiously, as she noticed the green moss from the stone on his coat—
"Have you hurt yourself? You look as though you have had a fall."
"I have not had a fall," he said, in a voice strangely unlike his own.
The Squire was quick at reading faces, and knew something had happened. Did it concern Irene? Had Warren been injured? He took her by the arm and said—
"Come, let us go home; and, as Ulick has missed the hounds, he can come with us."