The Storm Birds (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE SOUND OF A VOICE One of those clear, crisp afternoons that make the delight of Washington winters was wearing to its close. There was just the nip in the eager air that made a strong, healthy man glory in the exercise of a brisk walk over the wooded hills about the capital, and Lieutenant-Commander Stewart Blake was enjoying it to the full. He had come from a long and serious conference with Admiral Crunfield at the Department, where he had gone over in minute detail all the results that had been accomplished by the two months of hard work since his return from Europe. He had hardly been in Washington a day in that time, the Departmenthaving kept him more than occupied with a series of tasks which had taken him all over the country. Now, with his brain cleared by the sunshine and the breeze and the brisk walk, he was striding along, care-free and eager, hardly heeding where his path led, filled with the joy of earth and sky and woods. He had turned from the main road into a bridle path that skirted the shaggy banks of the little stream that flows through the great park north of Washington. He was alone from choice, but it- was not by design that he had chosen that path, where the few and scattered hoof prints would have told a closer observer of infrequent use. He was so oblivious to the possibility of meeting or seeing another human that he did not hear the rapid footfalls of a running horse on the path behind him, and it was not until he was roused by a sharp cry almost at his back, that he leaped to one side of the path and wheeled around. Then he saw what sent his blood whirling and stirred him instantly to action. A splendid black horse was bearing down on him at the full run, with neck extended and head thrust forward, and eyes flashing with...