He scrambled back rather crestfallen on to the bank. It was getting dark, and the rain came down ceaselessly, yet so strong was his certainty that here he should discover the evidence he was looking for, that for another half-hour he plied his trowel diligently. Sometimes when it struck on a stone or the roots of a bramble, he trembled with anticipation; and once, when, groping under a hedge, his hand suddenly encountered a dead rat, his hair literally stood on end.
He began to get nervous and uncomfortable. The night became suddenly dark, and the wind whistled all sorts of weird tunes among the trees. Jonah did not exactly believe in ghosts; still, if there were such things, this was just the night and just the place for the ghost he was looking for to take its walk abroad. He did not like it, and began to wish he was safe at home. The bushes round him began to rustle noisily, and a gate in the field swung to and fro with an almost human groan. He fancied he could descry wandering lights and white gleams in the darkness, and the vague consciousness of something coming nearer and nearer.
At last, with a great effort, he roused himself from his moist seat, and leaped down from the bank into the lane.
The instant his feet touched the road he was conscious of a low growl, and next moment found himself pinned, with his back to the bank, by a furious dog.
His yell of terror had mingled with the wind for a couple of minutes before he became aware of the red glow of a cigar in front of him, and behind that the dim countenance of the man whose talk with Jeffreys he had overheard the previous evening.
“Oh, Mr Julius!” he howled; “help me. Call him off; I shall be torn to pieces.”
“And pray how come you to know the name of my dog?” said Mr Halgrove; “eh, my little highwayman?”
“Please, sir, I’m not a highwayman. I was only looking for something on the bank. Oh, Mr Julius!”
“My dog is not used to be called Mr,” replied Mr Halgrove.
“Oh, I—I thought that was your name,” whimpered Jonah, not daring to stir an inch for fear of incurring the resentment of the dog.