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Having said which, Stentor nodded to his gun again, glanced at

Barnabas again, and strode off, , after his companion

Hereupon Barnabas once itive had thrust his head out of the ditch, and having

glanced swiftly about, was now regarding him out of the corners of

his eyes

"Why do you stare atwhy you took the trouble and risk of shielding such

a thing as I aitive

"Hum!" said Barnabas, "upon hostly sht not"

Now, as he looked at the man, Barnabas saw that his cheeks, beneath

their stubble, were hollow and pinched, as though by the cruel hands

of want and suffering And yet in despite of all this and of the

grizzled hair at his temples, the face was not old, moreover there

was a merry twinkle in the eye, and a humorous curve to the

wide-lipped mouth that appealed to Barnabas

"And you are a poacher, you say?"

"Yes, sir, and that is bad, I confess, but, what is worse, I was,

until I took to poaching, an honest man without a shred of character"

"How so?"

"I was discharged--under a cloud that was never dispelled"

"To be sure, you don't look like an ordinary poacher"