Page:Herbert Jenkins - The Rain Girl.djvu/74

 God knows what I should have done if you hadn't been here," he added as he rose and stretched himself.

"Well, don't break down again," said Tallis, "and above all things go slow. Let me hear how you get on and—if you find her."

"Right-o," he gripped the doctor's hand, "and now, like Dick Whittington, I'm off to discover London town."

He shook hands with the proprietor, and thanked him for all he had done and, with the good wishes of the whole staff, turned his head northwards in the direction of London, conscious that before him lay an even greater adventure than the one he had sought on that unforgettable first of May.

It seemed as if Nature, conscious of having failed him once, was now endeavouring to make amends for her lapse. Birds were fluting and calling from every branch and hedge, as if it were the first day of Spring. The trees, vivid in the morning sunlight, swayed and rustled gently in the breeze; the air, soft as a maiden's kiss, was heavily perfumed. It was a day for love and lingering.

As he walked slowly along the high-road drinking in the beauty of the morning, Beresford recalled with a smile Tallis' warning. Ten miles would be a trifle on a day such as this, he decided. Still he would take no undue risks and walk slowly, loiter in fact.

He had lost thirty-eight days. It was now June 9th. It was strange how a man's ideas could change.