“Oh, so far away? Then I must be leaving at once. I have a friend who lives in a little house on the top of that hill, and he will be anxious for me.”
Whereupon Mr. MacWilloughby strode past me, but checked himself. “Stay—what was that you said about a cave-man?”
I was willing to humour him a little longer. “Oh, I met him right enough. He shouted some gibberish in my face and passed me going to the uplands.”
“Oh? Now that is very good. You may think it inexcusable of me, sir, but I had the idea for a little while that you were that cave-man. I asked you those questions partly to hear a little of your language. Now, since you say Kerry Hill is so far, I really—”
He commenced to walk away, but I protested.
“I think it’s time you answered a question or two of mine. I don’t know what possesses you to climb into that wilderness, even if your whole menagerie is kicking its heels up there—they’ll keep. But you can at least tell me what I’m likely to find further down the Vale. Shall I find anyone there?”
The stranger’s face, in spite of its startling features, grew really pleasant with a smile. “I believe you will find someone further down. Yes, I believe you will find all you want.”
“I’m not looking for any special number of people,” I told him tartly. “I want a house—shelter—a place to stop overnight. Am I clear?”
Mr. MacWilloughby seemed to have lost interest in his surroundings. In answer to my question he murmured, “Yes, you are very likely to find a house,” but his thought seemed to be running in other channels. He was biting the beard of his nether lip. Suddenly he drew himself up. “You might mention—if you decide to stop—to the master of the hostelry, that his many watch-dogs are causing me inconvenience. Secretly, you understand. All this you must tell him secretly. I enjoy the society of the menagerie, and of many kinds of dogs—the Russian wolf-hound, the Dalmatian—but I do not care for the two-legged kind he has out to-night. It is not a thing I like to mention, you understand—it is so delicate—but when one is actually precluded from stepping across a stile—” Hand and umbrella made an expressive gesture. “You catch my drift, I perceive.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him,” I remarked sardonically.