Page:Anthony Hope - Rupert of Hentzau.djvu/195

Rh yards. This he might well have thought a safe distance on a night so wild, when the rush of the wind and the pelt of the rain joined to hide the sound of footsteps.

But Bauer reasoned as a townsman, and Rudolf Rassendyll had the quick ear of a man bred in the country and trained to the woodland. All at once there was a jerk of his head; I know so well the motion which marked awakened attention in him. He did not pause nor break his stride: to do either would have been to betray his suspicions to his follower; but he crossed the road to the opposite side to that where No. 19 was situated, and slackened his pace a little, so that there might be a longer interval between his footfalls. The steps behind him grew slower, even as his did; their sound came no nearer; the follower would not overtake. Now a man who loiters on such a night, just because another ahead of him is fool enough to loiter, has a reason for his action other than what can be detected at first sight. So thought Rudolf Rassendyll, and his brain was busy with finding it out.

Then an idea seized him, and, forgetting the precautions that had hitherto served so well, he came to a sudden stop on the pavement, engrossed in deep thought. Was the man who dogged his steps Rupert himself? It would be like Rupert to track him, like Rupert to conceive such an attack,