Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/28

12 "How many?"

"One."

"Where is he now?"

"In the house."

For a moment Robert was silent, minded to ask more questions; but Dirck's suggestion that he could help decide when he himself had seen the man, and the fear that his conversation with the Dutchman might be overheard, caused him to hesitate. As he glanced again toward the house, he was positive that he could see the form of a man even then behind the vine that had been trained upon the lattice-work in front of a part of the house.

"Shall I take my horse back into the woods?" inquired Robert, referring to the concealment of his faithful animal which had been deemed wise on the occasion of his recent visit.

"Nein. No. I will put the horse in my barn. It was already too late to hide him. We shall see later."

"That's good of you, Dirck. You take him and give him a good rubbing down and I 'll run down to the shore for a swim. I 'll not be gone long, and I 'll see to feeding Nero myself when I come back. That's something