### 294

The wagon halts in the centre of the timber gantry, and the men are herded back into the tunnel. You wait for over an hour before the entrance is free of guards, and then you slip out of the wagon and run back along the gantry. A copse of densely packed trees lines one side of the track and along the other is a sheer drop into the quarry. As you dash into the foliage, you suddenly realize that the whispering stranger had been trying to help you escape. You bid him silent thanks and press on towards Ruanon.

Turn to 200.