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grunted, then leading the other horse, he went crashing off through the reeds and back to Farnworth,
    I waited until the sounds died away, then cautiously I came out of hiding.
    They would recover the two bodies, then Byefleet and some of the mounted guards would come after me with the dogs. In the meantime every State trooper would be alerted. The police of the district would be on the look-out for me. A warning would be broadcast.
    I had still a long way to go before I was safe—if I ever was going to be safe.
    Carrying the sack of pepper, I started off again. The morning sun was up by now, and already there was heat.
    As I ran, the pepper kept jerking out of my trousers turn-ups, blotting out my scent.
    After about a couple of miles, I pulled up, panting. Now was the time to cross the river. The railway lay on the far side about sixteen miles from where I was.
    I took off my trousers and folded them into a small pack in which I put the sack of pepper. I tied the pack on top of my head with my belt, then I walked into the river and swam over to the opposite bank.

CHAPTER THREE
    I
    The time was ten minutes after four o'clock in the afternoon. I lay under the shade of a tree on a sloping hill that went away down to the highway.
    By keeping to the woods and following the river I had covered quite a distance. No sound of any pursuit had followed me. The pepper idea had paid off. The dogs hadn't been able to pick up my scent.
    But I was still five miles from the railway, and now the country had become flat and open. I didn't dare move out of the woods until dark.
    Below me on the far side of the highway was a small farm. It wasn't much of a place, consisting of the farmhouse, three big sheds, a barn and a lot of junk lying around. I didn't pay much attention to it until I saw a girl come out of the farmhouse and walk over to one of the sheds. She was carrying two big baskets of cantaloups.
    From this distance I couldn't see what she looked like, and I didn't care. My eyes watched those cantaloups and my mouth watered at the sight of them.
    When it was dark I would sneak down there and grab myself a few.
    There was a heap of traffic on the highway, mostly trucks carrying cantaloups to Oakland. Every now and then a glittering Cadillac or an Oldsmobile would blast its impatient way past the trucks. From time to time I sported a State trooper on his motorcycle, patrolling, and once, a police radio car.
    The hours dragged by.
    At six o'clock a battered truck came up the dirt road leading to the farm. It was loaded with cantaloups. I watched it pull up outside one of the sheds.
    The girl came out of the farmhouse.
    Two men got down off the truck. One of them was young, the other middle-aged.
    They all moved over to the farmhouse and I imagined them sitting down to supper, and the thought tormented me. I was hungry enough to think longingly of Farnworth's filthy food.
    Another couple of hours crawled by. The sun went down and the stars came out. The traffic had practically ceased. I hadn't seen a State trooper for some time. I decided it would be safe to move.

    I reached the highway without seeing a car. There was a light showing in one of the windows of the farmhouse. I had watched for a dog, but hadn't seen one. I crossed the highway at a run and reached the dirt road leading up to the farm.
    The farm gate was closed. I climbed it, and then moved away from the farmhouse to one of the sheds.
    I paused outside the open door. It was dark in there, but I could smell the cantaloups.
    I went in. I had no knife, but I split the cantaloups in my hands. The warm sweet juice and the pulpy flesh quenched my thirst and satisfied my hunger.
    I was so tired I could scarcely keep my eyes open. I decided to take a short rest before walking the last five miles to the railway.
    I groped my way behind a pile of cantaloups and stretched out on the ground. I could hear the radio coming from the farmhouse, playing dance music. I closed my eyes. This was