The Secret Adversary

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The way seemed endless. Once they took the wrong turning and went nearly
half a mile out of their direction. It was past seven o'clock when a
small boy told them that "t' Moat House" was just past the next corner.

A rusty iron gate swinging dismally on its hinges! An overgrown drive
thick with leaves. There was something about the place that struck a
chill to both their hearts. They went up the deserted drive. The leaves
deadened their footsteps. The daylight was almost gone. It was like
walking in a world of ghosts. Overhead the branches flapped and creaked
with a mournful note. Occasionally a sodden leaf drifted silently down,
startling them with its cold touch on their cheek.

A turn of the drive brought them in sight of the house. That, too,
seemed empty and deserted. The shutters were closed, the steps up to
the door overgrown with moss. Was it indeed to this desolate spot
that Tuppence had been decoyed? It seemed hard to believe that a human
footstep had passed this way for months.