★ VII ★
When Neill emerged from the water he saw a dim light a couple of hundred yards off to his left. After dressing and hiding the oilskin coat in the bush, he walked along the beach to investigate. It proved to be a night light in the upper window of an old farmhouse on the river bank. Below the bank was a little wharf and tied to the wharf was a skiff with oars in her. Neill noted it with satisfaction. This would be convenient for the coming night.
Making a détour around the house, he gained the driveway that served it, and was led out to the state road at a point about a mile from the village. The first faint streaks of dawn were beginning to appear in the east when he reached the hotel. The outer door was unlocked and he stole up to his room without meeting anybody.
He slept
