We climbed to the road. The sky was solid gray. We were in a lonely neighborhood; a fence was here, bordering a field; but no house was in sight. The road went up a rise here through a cut. Alan had drawn the car to one side; a spreading tree hung over it. Beyond the trees, I could see the lights of a near-by settlement; a trolley car—a lighted roadway winding off there; and the hill with the lights of Turber's. The searchlight was not lighted.
"Hadn't we better get closer, Alan?"
"No, this is all right. It's barely a mile."
"You know where we are? You'll be able to find us, coming back?"
"Yes. Just keep your lights out and wait."
"How long, Alan?" Anxiety flooded me. "If you don't come back—say by midnight—what shall I do?"
"I will come back. You just wait, Ed."
He kissed Nanette. I sat at the wheel with her beside me. Alan's figure, carrying his small bag and the black cloak, showed dimly down the road for a moment, then was gone.
It was nine forty. With all the lights of the car extinguished, we sat in the darkness, waiting. Alan had taken a small revolver, and I had one also.