’Well，no，’sheanswered，withasuddencarelessnessoftone。Itwasindispensablethatheshouldbeundeceived，andtobegintheprocessbytakinganaffectedlylightviewofhispersonalriskswasperhapsasgoodawaytodoitasany。Wherefriendlinesswasconstruedaslove，anassumedindifferencewasthenecessaryexpressionforfriendliness。
Soshelethimgo；and，biddinghimhastenbackassoonashecould，wentdownthehill，whileJohn’sfeetretracedtheupland。
Thetrumpet-majorspentthewholeafternoonandeveninginthatlonganddifficultsearchforFestusDerriman。CrossingthedownattheendofthesecondhourhemetMollyandMrs。Loveday。Thegighadbeenrepaired，theyhadlearntthegroundlessnessofthealarm，andtheywouldhavebeenproceedinghappilyenoughbutfortheiranxietyaboutAnne。Johntoldthemshortlythatshehadgotalifthome，andproceededonhisway。
Theworthyobjectofhissearchhadinthemeantimebeenploddinghomewardonfoot，sulkyatthelossofhischarger，encumberedwithhissword，belts，highboots，anduniform，andinhisowndiscomfiturecarelesswhetherAnneGarland’slifehadbeenendangeredornot。
AtlengthDerrimanreachedaplacewheretheroadranbetweenhighbanks，oneofwhichhemountedandpacedalongasachangefromthehardtrackway。Aheadofhimhesawanoldmansittingdown，witheyesfixedonthedustoftheroad，asifrestingandmeditatingatoneandthesametime。Beingprettysurethatherecognizedhisuncleinthatvenerablefigure，Festuscameforwardstealthily，tillhewasimmediatelyabovetheoldman’sback。Thelatterwasclothedinfadednankeenbreeches，speckledstockings，adrabhat，andacoatwhichhadoncebeenlightblue，butfromexposureasascarecrowhadassumedthecomplexionandfibreofadriedpudding-cloth。Thefarmerwas，infact，returningtothehall，whichhehadleftinthemorningsometimelaterthanhisnephew，toseekanasyluminahollowtreeabouttwomilesoff。Thetreewassosituatedastocommandaviewofthebuilding，andUncleBenjyhadmanagedtoclamberupinsidethisnaturalfortificationhighenoughtowatchhisresidencethroughaholeinthebark，till，gatheringfromthewordsofoccasionalpassers-bythatthealarmwasatleastpremature，hehadventuredintodaylightagain。