Violet Jacob > Flemington

THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 277
with the strange detachment ot those whose
senses and consciousness are numbed by some
crisis. What was it carrying away, that tiny
thing that was being swallowed by the vastness ?
His mind could only grasp the idea of distance . ..
of space. . . .
Callandar was at his elbow, and his voice broke
on him as the voice of someone awakening him
from sleep.
“ These are my orders,” he was saying, as he
held out his own letter; “ you know them, for
I am informed here that they are the duplicate of
yours.”
There was no escape. Callandar knew the exact
contents of both papers. Archie might have kept
his own orders to himself, and have given him to
suppose that he was summoned to torfar or
Perth, and must leave him ; but that was im¬
possible. He must either join in hunting Logie,
or leave the party on this side of Huntly Hill.
“ We had better get on,” said Callandar.
They mounted, and as they did so, Wattie also
got under way. His team was now reduced to
four, for the terrier which had formerly run alone
in the lead had died about the new year.
He took up his switch, and the yellow cur and
his companions whirled him with a mighty tug on
to the road. He had been waiting for some time
in the bracken for the expected horseman, and as
the dogs had enjoyed a long rest, they followed
the horses at a steady trot. Callandar and
Flemington trotted too, and the cart soon fell