"And the bullet that slew him," added my uncle Jervas, "just as surely killed your mother also." "Yes!" said I. "And whose hand sped that bullet?" "He is dead!" murmured my uncle Jervas, gazing up at the placid moon. "Dead and out of reach--years ago." "Aye--he died abroad," added uncle George, "Brussels, I think, or Paris--or was it Vienna--anyhow he--is dead!" "And--out of reach!" murmured uncle Jervas, still apparently lost in contemplation of the moon. "As to yourself, dear, foolish lad," said uncle George, laying his hand upon my shoulder, "if go you will, come back soon! And should you meet trouble--need a friend--any assistance, d'ye see, you can always find me at the Grange." "Or a letter to me, Peregrine, directed to my chambers in St. James's Street, will always bring you prompt advice in any difficulty and, what is better, perhaps--money. Moreover, should you wish to see the town or aspire socially, you will find I can be of some small service--" "My dear uncles," I exclaimed, grasping their hands in turn, "for this kind solicitude God bless you both again and--good-bye!" So saying, I turned (somewhat hastily) and went my way; but after I had gone some distance I glanced back to behold them watching me, motionless and side by side; hereupon, moved by their wistful attitude, I forgot my dignity and, whipping off my hat, I flourished it to them above my head ere a bend in the drive hid them from my view. CHAPTER III WHEREIN THE READER SHALL FIND SOME DESCRIPTION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY TINKER I went at a good, round pace, being determined to cover as much distance as possible ere dawn, since I felt assured that so soon as my indomitable aunt Julia discovered my departure she would immediately head a search party in quest of me; for which cogent reason I determined to abandon the high road as soon as possible and go by less frequented byways. A distant church clock chimed the hour and, pausing to hearken, I thrilled as I counted eleven, for, according to the laws which had ordered my life hitherto, at this so late hour I should have been blissfully asleep between lavender-scented sheets. Indeed my loved aunt abhorred the night air for me, under the delusion that I suffered from a delicate chest; yet here was I out upon the open road and eleven o'clock chiming in my ears. Thus as I strode on into the unknown I experienced an exhilarating sense of high adventure unknown till now.