At last he arrived close to the cleared spot by
the pool. There was no stag there, but fast asleep upon the turf lay
James Corbould, the sinister-looking verderer who had accosted him in
the forest on the previous day. Holdfast was about to bark, when
Edward silenced him, and then advanced to where the verderer was
lying; and who, having no dog with him to give notice of Edward's
approach, still remained snoring with the sun shining on his face.
Edward perceived that his gun was under him on the grass, he took it
up, gently opened the pan and scattered the powder, and then laid it
down again--for Edward said to himself, "That man has come out after
me, that I am certain; and as there are no witnesses, he may be
inclined to be mischievous, for a more wretched-looking person I never
saw. Had he been deer-hunting, he would have brought his dog; but he
is man-hunting, that is evident. Now I will leave him, and should he
fall in with anything, he will not kill at first shot, that's certain;
and if he follows me, I shall have the same chance of escape as
anything else he may fire at." Edward then walked out of the covert,
thinking that if ever there was a face which proclaimed a man to be a
murderer, it was that of James Corbould.
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