THE OLD HUNTSMAN'S STORY. 131 



pass down the Hellingford road. I distinctly saw the face 

 of Mr. Onslow, but I could not see whether anyone was 

 with him.' 



" ' Mr. Onslow ! ' I cried. ' Why the dickens did you not 

 say this before ? ' I demanded angrily. 



" ' Because I don't know even now whether Bess is in the 

 house or not. A nice thing if I'd said, " Bess has run away 

 with Mr. Onslow in a carriage from the end of the lane," and 

 then she had been in the house all the time.' 



" ' Wait ! ' I cried, and rushing into the house I shouted to 

 my wife — ' Mary, is Bess in the house ? ' 



" ' Of course she is,' replied my wife. ' She went to bed 

 an hour ago with a bad headache, and said she should not 

 want any supper.' 



" ' Just run up and see how she is — say I want to speak 

 to her,' 



"Down came my wife in less than a minute. *Tom!' 

 she cried, 'she's not there. Her bed's never been slept in, 

 and there's this note pinned to the coverlid.' I tore open the 

 envelope. 



" The note said she was running away to be married to 

 the man she loved, that her destination would be kept a 

 secret, and that we should hear from her as soon as the 

 ceremony was over. 



" That marriage ceremony never took place, and we never 

 heard from her for two years, and then it was to say she was 

 dead. She left a letter at her lodgings to be forwarded to us 

 before going out to throw herself over London Bridge at 

 midnight. 



" But to go back. Directly I had read the note she had 

 left in her little room at the Kennels, I rushed out to Tom. 

 'Tom!' I cried. 'You're right, she's gone! Put the old 

 mare in at once. We may save her yet.' 



"'HelUngford road, you said, Tom, didn't you?' as we 



