Reginald strode along first, calling to the dogs, while Lily
followed, abstaining from dwelling on the awkward circumstance that
every step she took led her farther from home, and rejoicing that it
was so dark that she could not see the mud which plastered the edge
of her petticoats. After plodding through three very long fields,
they found themselves shut in by a high hedge and tall ditch.
'That fool of a farmer!' cried Reginald.
'What is to be done?' said Lily, disconsolately.
'There is the road,' said Reginald. 'How do you propose to get into
it?'
'There was a gap here last summer,' said the boy.
'Very likely! Come back; try the next field; it must have a gate
somewhere.'
Back they went, after seeing the carrier's cart from Raynham pass by.
'Redgie, it must be half-past five! We shall never be in time. Aunt
Rotherwood coming too!'
After a desperate plunge through a swamp of ice, water, and mud, they
found themselves at a gate, and safely entered the turnpike road.
'How it rains!' said Lily. 'One comfort is that it is too dark for
any one to see us.'
'Not very dark, either,' said Reginald; 'I believe there is a moon if
one could see it.
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