The light was going fast; and although the sky was still bright, when Luke looked at his feet he could hardly see. There was no danger of a trap here in the open, and he went faster. On the level ground on the other side of the pond, the trees began again; and in front of them ran the wall. It was a strange wall to find in the middle of a wood like this. There was but a gap in it even now, after all these years, and the deep ditch on this side was still unlocked.
It was a difficult leap, with the gun in one hand and just the narrow strip of earth at the wall's foot on the other side; if he had not leaped it so often before, he would never have ventured it now. The breathless flying moment, the twist and grip on the wall were just the same. His free hand sought the familiar holds unguided, and he climbed to the top of the gap - the top, because although some of the wall was fallen there was still a fair height of it standing, strong and broad enough to stand on. He was in the very act of jumping down when he saw the trap under him - actually launched - his balance gone. With a wild fling of his arms, a writhe, a last convulsive effort as his foot left the stone, he flung himself sideways of it and clear by two feet. He fell into thick brambles, but the stirring of his blood was such that he never minded the laceration and tore free, still holding the gun.
The trap crouched right under the shadow of the wall, half-buried and veiled with careful fern. Only the wind had shown it, momentarily baring a tooth that gleamed in the last light. He stood by it breathing heavily, and as his tumult of spirits died down he felt a kind of desperate, excited confidence mount in his heart. He stared at the thing, plucked away the fern and stared at it further. Its evil jaws were fully a yard long, and they shone brightly. Its curved gape was wide enough to grip a barrel. In its jaws, near the hinge, was a wooden block designed to prevent them from snapping right to: they were to remain still so far apart that they would not take a man's leg off clean. There was a wire running from the plate that set the trap off to the warning pistol - a blank, with a loud bang that would tell the keepers of their success.
