At length, Foster stole quietly down the stairs, and smiled as he remarked that the cloth on the small table had been pulled aside.  This had been done cautiously, but a fold that overhung the edge was not in quite its former position.  Then he picked up the bag and went out, making noise enough to be heard in the library as he shut the hall door.  When he went down the steps he saw the lights of the car that had brought Daly glimmer on the wet gravel of the drive.  The back of the car was next him, for it had been turned round ready to start.  Then Featherstone’s car rolled up quietly, and Foster was getting in when he stopped and felt his heart beat as a slender figure appeared on the terrace.  He turned, with his foot on the step, and waited until Alice came up.

“I couldn’t let you go without a last word of thanks,” she said.  “It is splendid!  We can’t forget.”

“I believe I’m going to have an amusing trip,” Foster replied.  “Then, you see, the Garth is a remarkably nice place to come back to, and there’s the pleasure of looking forward to my return.  But I’m unselfish enough to hope I won’t have that satisfaction all to myself.”

Alice smiled, but there was something very friendly in her look and her voice was unusually soft.

“You can always be sure of your welcome and we will miss you when you are away.  I very sincerely wish you good luck.”

Foster was seldom theatrical, but felt the occasion justified his doing something unusual.  John, having already grasped the wheel, had his back to them, and Foster took the girl’s hand, which rested on the rail, and kissed it.  She made a little abrupt movement, and he thought he saw a tinge of color in her face, but she did not look angry and he felt a strange exultant thrill.

“Make as much noise as you can,” he said to John.

The car backed across the rattling gravel, and the girl’s figure faded into the gloom; then John turned the wheel and they shot forward down the drive.  The lights of the other car vanished, there was a splash as they swung into the wet road, and Foster pulled the rug around him when he had struck a match and noted the time.

“You needn’t hurry her too much,” he said.  “If I catch the train by about a minute, it is all I want.”

“Very good, sir.  If I may remark, the other’s a powerful car.”

“I don’t think they’ll try to overtake us until we’re near the station,” Foster answered with a laugh.  “But we can’t allow it then.”

“No, sir,” said John.  “I quite understand.”

They ran down the valley at a moderate speed, and Foster, looking around when they came to a straight piece of road, was not surprised to see a gleam of light in the distance.  He lost it a few moments afterwards, but it flashed out again every now and then, until they plunged into a thick fir wood.  They were about half-way to the station, but the light had not got much nearer.  He had, however, not expected it to do so, because he thought Daly would be satisfied if he kept his supposititious victim in sight.  The danger would arise when they got near the station, and whether they overcame it or not depended on John’s coolness and nerve.  Foster thought the man would not fail him.