“Oh, gee, I don’t know. I s’pose I’ll have to be, to get some peace and quiet.”
“I shall send you a beautiful present from Central Africa or Siam or elsewhere. May I kiss the bride again?”
I might. And yet again.
I turned away, but swung back. “Tell her—I’ll never forget her. And I’ll always be sorry for the pain I’ve caused her. That’s all.”
“I will; sure I will. But, Bannerlee, I want to say something. I think it’s the limit a real man like you has to light out because something happened to that doggone Irishman. I think it’s a goldarn pity Paula couldn’t have fallen for you—hard. Then she would have kept quiet if they’d torn out her finger-nails, instead of seeing her duty and doing it to-night, like a fool. I’m awful sorry. Now step on it!”
She glided and glimmered away. I was a lone outlaw against the world.
Not a moment squandered now. I dashed for the stables, with which I was fairly familiar. Cautiously using my torch, I penetrated the section transformed into the garage. A minute later, with two petrol tins hugged to my breast, I fled down the Vale for life. There had not been a single shout from the environs of the House.
I carried the tins across Aidenn Water and set one down, returning with the other to the temporary log bridge, which I must burn behind me. It must have made a comfortable blaze, soaked as it was with petrol, but I could not stop to witness this holocaust to Mercury.
Salt’s car was waiting there. I deposited the emergency tin of petrol in the rear, jumped in, and had no difficulty in starting the engine. The key had been left on the dashboard, as I knew it would be. With the fire rising behind me, merrily I rolled out of the mouth of the Vale to the main road and toward New Aidenn, embarking on a brief career of constructive vandalism.
My object was to cut off for as long as might be the communications of my enemies, the inhabitants of the earth. The torch revealed that along the edge of the road eight or ten telephone wires were strung, but shortly before entering the town I jumped out of the car, clambered up the short pole, and with the aid of gloves and other things in the tool-box snipped both right and left.