Page:The Works of H G Wells Volume 5.pdf/107

 "So far—" said Cossar.

"Crack—bang!"

A shot from near the house and then—stillness.

"What's that?" said Bensington.

"One of the rats put its head out," suggested one of the men.

"By the bye, we left our guns up there," said Redwood.

"By the sacks."

Every one began to walk towards the hill again.

"That must be the rats," said Bensington.

"Obviously," said Cossar, gnawing his finger nails.

"Bang!"

"Hullo?" said one of the men.

Then abruptly came a shout, two shots, a loud shout that was almost a scream, three shots in rapid succession and a splintering of wood. All these sounds were very clear and very small in the immense stillness of the night. Then for some moments nothing but a minute muffled confusion from the direction of the rat-holes, and then again a wild yell Each man found himself running hard for the guns.

Two shots.

Bensington found himself, gun in hand, going hard through the pine-trees after a number of receding backs. It is curious that the thought uppermost in his mind at that moment was the wish that his cousin Jane could see him. His bulbous slashed boots flew out in wild strides and his face was distorted into a permanent grin, because that wrinkled his nose and kept his glasses in place. Also he had the muzzle of his gun projecting straight before him as he flew