6 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



ing towards me with rapid strides. It was the work 

 of a moment to put my cap over my face and run 

 for the forest edge, where there was a high beech- 

 tree, which I had once been up for a Stock Dove's 

 nest. I had a good start, and reached this tree 

 some two hundred yards ahead of my pursuer. 

 Being then a good climber, and guessing that Pat 

 was a poor one, it was not long before I was sixty 

 feet up, and well concealed amidst the leafy branches. 

 " Pat " paused at the foot of the tree and called 

 out 



" Come down at once, boy, I know who you are." 



For a moment I hesitated, and then, as he had 

 not mentioned my name, I remained perdu. 



After a time he tried blandishments and then 

 threats, even giving my name, but in such a doubt- 

 ful manner that I knew he was not certain. 

 Accordingly I remained perfectly quiet. Pat sat at 

 the foot of the tree for an hour, and then got up 

 and marched off down the hill to where a stile 

 intercepted some fields leading to the railway line, 

 which he would have to cross in going to the 

 school. 



Now from my elevated perch I had a very clear 

 view of the line, and as I did not see him cross it, I 

 concluded he had hidden himself somewhere near 

 the stile and was waiting for me to fall into his 

 clutches. Another half an hour went by, when 

 suddenly I saw his figure outlined against the sky 

 crossing the railway between two trucks. 



A brilliant idea then seized me. Supposing I 

 could reach the school ahead of " Pat," I could 

 prove an alibi. It was possible but not probable, 

 but I resolved to try it by a way I knew. 



