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Hepworth's Question
169

ostler. He drove out of the yard by the back entrance.

"Look here," said Verrell, "I don't know where you're taking me, but I hope it is not through the town. I want to escape observation as much as possible, you know, because—"

"Afraid of being caught, eh?" said Hepworth, and began to laugh again.

"You never know who there may be watching you," said Verrell, nervously. He wished Hepworth would not laugh in so strange a fashion. It seemed to him that it was the laughter of a madman. He glanced at Hepworth's face, and was still more uneasy. It was white and drawn as if with intense pain and there was a look in his eyes that frightened Verrell as much as the harsh, soulless laughter.

"We're going home," said Hepworth presently. "And we'll go by a quiet road. You need not be afraid. There's nobody will know you—it's most likely that we shan't meet a soul all the way."