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- Джон Джон Бакен
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As
the
dark
fell
I
turned
up
a
side
glen
which
,
as
I
remember
from
the
map
,
led
into
an
unfrequented
corner
of
the
hills
.
Soon
the
villages
were
left
behind
,
then
the
farms
,
and
then
even
the
wayside
cottage
.
Presently
we
came
to
a
lonely
moor
where
the
night
was
blackening
the
sunset
gleam
in
the
bog
pools
.
Here
we
stopped
,
and
I
obligingly
reversed
the
car
and
restored
to
Mr
Jopley
his
belongings
.
"
A
thousand
thanks
,
"
I
said
.
"
There
's
more
use
in
you
than
I
thought
.
Now
be
off
and
find
the
police
.
"
As
I
sat
on
the
hillside
,
watching
the
tail-light
dwindle
,
I
reflected
on
the
various
kinds
of
crime
I
had
now
sampled
Contrary
to
general
belief
,
I
was
not
a
murderer
,
but
I
had
become
an
unholy
liar
,
a
shameless
impostor
,
and
a
highwayman
with
a
marked
taste
for
expensive
motor-cars
.
I
spent
the
night
on
a
shelf
of
the
hillside
,
in
the
lee
of
a
boulder
where
the
heather
grew
long
and
soft
.
It
was
a
cold
business
,
for
I
had
neither
coat
nor
waistcoat
.
These
were
in
Mr
Turnbull
's
keeping
,
as
was
Scudder
's
little
book
,
my
watch
and
--
worst
of
all
--
my
pipe
and
tobacco
pouch
.
Only
my
money
accompanied
me
in
my
belt
,
and
about
half
a
pound
of
ginger
biscuits
in
my
trousers
pocket
.
I
supped
off
half
those
biscuits
,
and
by
worming
myself
deep
into
the
heather
got
some
kind
of
warmth
.
My
spirits
had
risen
,
and
I
was
beginning
to
enjoy
this
crazy
game
of
hide-and-seek
.
So
far
I
had
been
miraculously
lucky
.
The
milkman
,
the
literary
innkeeper
,
Sir
Harry
,
the
roadman
,
and
the
idiotic
Marmie
,
were
all
pieces
of
undeserved
good
fortune
.
Somehow
the
first
success
gave
me
a
feeling
that
I
was
going
to
pull
the
thing
through
.
My
chief
trouble
was
that
I
was
desperately
hungry
.
When
a
Jew
shoots
himself
in
the
City
and
there
is
an
inquest
,
the
newspapers
usually
report
that
the
deceased
was
"
well-nourished
"
.
I
remember
thinking
that
they
would
not
call
me
well-nourished
if
I
broke
my
neck
in
a
bog-hole
.
I
lay
and
tortured
myself
--
for
the
ginger
biscuits
merely
emphasized
the
aching
void
--
with
the
memory
of
all
the
good
food
I
had
thought
so
little
of
in
London
.
There
were
Paddock
's
crisp
sausages
and
fragrant
shavings
of
bacon
,
and
shapely
poached
eggs
--
how
often
I
had
turned
up
my
nose
at
them
!
There
were
the
cutlets
they
did
at
the
club
,
and
a
particular
ham
that
stood
on
the
cold
table
,
for
which
my
soul
lusted
.
My
thoughts
hovered
over
all
varieties
of
mortal
edible
,
and
finally
settled
on
a
porterhouse
steak
and
a
quart
of
bitter
with
a
welsh
rabbit
to
follow
.
In
longing
hopelessly
for
these
dainties
I
fell
asleep
.
I
woke
very
cold
and
stiff
about
an
hour
after
dawn
.
It
took
me
a
little
while
to
remember
where
I
was
,
for
I
had
been
very
weary
and
had
slept
heavily
.
I
saw
first
the
pale
blue
sky
through
a
net
of
heather
,
then
a
big
shoulder
of
hill
,
and
then
my
own
boots
placed
neatly
in
a
blaeberry
bush
.
I
raised
myself
on
my
arms
and
looked
down
into
the
valley
,
and
that
one
look
set
me
lacing
up
my
boots
in
mad
haste
.
For
there
were
men
below
,
not
more
than
a
quarter
of
a
mile
off
,
spaced
out
on
the
hillside
like
a
fan
,
and
beating
the
heather
.
Marmie
had
not
been
slow
in
looking
for
his
revenge
.
