第64章

“Sohe’scomingto-night。”saidTim，laconically。“Andwebealwaysanxioustoseeourdears。”

“HeIScomingto-night。”shereplied，withdefiance。“AndweBE

anxiousforourdears。”

“Thenwillyoustepin-doors，whereyourdearwillsoonjine’ee？

We’vetomousterbyhalf-pastthreeto-morrow，andifwedon’tgettobedbyeightatlatestourfaceswillbeaslongasclock-casesallday。”

Shehesitatedforaminute，butultimatelyobeyed，goingslowlydownthegardentothehouse，whereheheardthedoor-latchclickbehindher。

Timwasincensedbeyondmeasure。Hismarriagehadsofarbeenatotalfailure，asourceofbitterregret；andtheonlycourseforimprovinghiscase，thatofleavingthecountry，wasasorry，andpossiblymightnotbeaveryeffectualone。Dowhathewould，hisdomesticskywaslikelytobeovercasttotheendoftheday。

Thushebrooded，andhisresentmentgatheredforce。Hecravedameansofstrikingoneblowbackatthecauseofhischeerlessplight，whilehewasstillonthesceneofhisdiscomfiture。Forsomeminutesnomethodsuggesteditself，andthenhehadanidea。

Comingtoasuddenresolution，hehastenedalongthegarden，andenteredtheoneattachedtothenextcottage，whichhadformerlybeenthedwellingofagame-keeper。Timdescendedthepathtothebackofthehouse，whereonlyanoldwomanlivedatpresent，andreachingthewallhestopped。Owingtotheslopeofthegroundtheroof-eavesofthelinhaywereherewithintouch，andhethrusthisarmupunderthem，feelingaboutinthespaceonthetopofthewall-plate。

“Ah，Ithoughtmymemorydidn’tdeceiveme！”helippedsilently。

Withsomeexertionhedrewdownacobwebbedobjectcuriouslyframediniron，whichclankedashemovedit。Itwasaboutthreefeetinlengthandhalfaswide。Timcontemplateditaswellashecouldinthedyinglightofday，andrakedoffthecobwebswithhishand。

“Thatwillspoilhisprettyshinsfor’n，Ireckon！”hesaid。

Itwasaman-trap。

Weretheinventorsofautomaticmachinestoberangedaccordingtotheexcellenceoftheirdevicesforproducingsoundartistictorture，thecreatoroftheman-trapwouldoccupyaveryrespectableifnotaveryhighplace。

Itshouldrather，however，besaid，theinventoroftheparticularformofman-trapofwhichthisfoundinthekeeper’sout-housewasaspecimen。Fortherewereothershapesandothersizes，instrumentswhich，ifplacedinarowbesideoneofthetypedisinterredbyTim，wouldhavewornthesubordinateaspectofthebears，wildboars，orwolvesinatravellingmenagerie，ascomparedwiththeleadinglionortiger。Inshort，thoughmanyvarietieshadbeeninuseduringthosecenturieswhichweareaccustomedtolookbackuponasthetrueandonlyperiodofmerryEngland——intheruraldistrictsmoreespecially——andonwarddowntothethirddecadeofthenineteenthcentury，thismodelhadbornethepalm，andhadbeenmostusuallyfollowedwhentheorchardsandestatesrequirednewones。

Therehadbeenthetoothlessvarietyusedbythesofter-heartedlandlords——quitecontemptibleintheirclemency。Thejawsoftheseresembledthejawsofanoldwomantowhomtimehasleftnothingbutgums。Therewerealsotheintermediateorhalf-

toothedsorts，probablydevisedbythemiddle-naturedsquires，orthoseundertheinfluenceoftheirwives：twoinchesofmercy，twoinchesofcruelty，twoinchesofmerenip，twoinchesofprobe，andsoon，throughthewholeextentofthejaws。Therewerealso，asaclassapart，thebruisers，whichdidnotlaceratetheflesh，butonlycrushedtheboneThesightofoneoftheseginswhensetproducedavividimpressionthatitwasendowedwithlife。Itexhibitedthecombinedaspectsofashark，acrocodile，andascorpion。Eachtoothwasintheformofataperingspine，twoandaquarterincheslong，which，whenthejawswereclosed，stoodinalternationfromthissideandfromthat。Whentheywereopen，thetwohalvesformedacompletecirclebetweentwoandthreefeetindiameter，theplateortreading-placeinthemidstbeingaboutafootsquare，whilefrombeneathextendedinoppositedirectionsthesouloftheapparatus，thepairofsprings，eachonebeingofastiffnesstorendernecessaryaleverorthewholeweightofthebodywhenforcingitdown。

ThereweremenatthistimestilllivingatHintockwhoremem