"Be careful, Pons," I called, following him more gingerly.
He smiled briefly, glancing sharply about him as he led the way without hesitation among the tussocks as the mist cleared, though a faint haze still hung over the surface of the reeds.
"Just follow me closely, Parker. I fancy I shall not lead you astray."
"I am not so sure about that, Pons," I said wryly, as I followed him among the rustling reed-stems with some apprehension.
Pons ignored my remark as he was concentrating on the map, his sharp eyes stabbing about him. Undoubtedly he could read signs which were invisible to me but my confidence grew as we proceeded. Not once did my companion appear to put a foot wrong and within a few minutes the causeway and the roof of Grimstone Manor were completely out of sight.
"You will note, Parker," said Solar Pons, pausing briefly to relight his pipe, "that the marsh proper is of a far deeper and greener texture than that of the path. And you will see, if you look yonder, that the reed-stems are encased in ice, proving that water covers them normally."
"You are right, Pons," I said, after careful observation. "I thought you had done something clever."
Solar Pons lookedup from his map with a wry smile.
"The master himself was not immune to such criticism. It is always a mistake to explain one's reasoning processes to the layman."
"You do me an injustice, Pons."
"Perhaps, Parker, perhaps. But I must confess there is an occasional sting in your otherwise innocuous remarks. You are improving considerably."
He took another glance at the map and then led the way unhesitatingly forward.
"If we keep our direction by the sun here, I do not think we shall go far wrong. But dusk or nightfall would be a different matter indeed."
"But what do you expect to find, Pons?"
"Evidence, Parker. Or at least some trace, however subtle, of human foot before us."
I followed cautiously in his tracks, pausing now and again to look round at our misty surroundings with a misgiving I could not suppress.
"I must say, Pons, I do not care for these marshes. They are bleak and inhospitable in the extreme."
"And yet people make their living here, Parker, and seem reasonably content to do so."
"Except for Strangeways."
Solar Pons turned and gave me a penetrating look from his piercing eyes.
"Ah, you have noticed that? A talented man dissatisfied with the sphere in which circumstances have placed him. At least, that is my reading."
"There is more to the doctor than appears on the surface, Pons."
"We shall see," he replied equably.
He led the way forward ever deeper into the marsh, our movements occasionally cloaked by thick undergrowth which grew on exposed humps of land thrust above the surrounding bog. A thin mist still hovered over the reeds but it was possible to see some way ahead. It was with considerable relief that I saw a large hummock of firmer ground ahead and then outlines of a dilapidated stone building. The harsh cries of birds occasionally broke the silence but apart from that and the faint noise our own footsteps made we might have been alone in the universe.
Pons folded the map and scrutinized it closely.
"Ah, this should be the place, Parker. A disused shepherd's.. hut. Some of this land was once reclaimed from the marsh but as fast as gains were made, other areas were abandoned to their former state."
"You look as though you expect to find something here."
"Do I not. We have at least three points to aim for this morning and if we do not end up a little wiser my name is not Solar Pons."
We were off the path now and walking uphill toward the stone-built ruins. Seabirds cried harshly in the strengthening sunlight as we gained the island — for it was little more— that rose from the surrounding marshland.
A sudden explosion sent ducks whirring upward as we gained the edge of the ruins. I must confess my nerves were a little on edge: I had my hand on the butt of my revolver before Pons' warning glance brought me to myself. A burly, tweeded form lowered the shotgun as we came up. The man smiled affably.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Joshua Tebble at your service. Nothing like roast duck with your potatoes and green peas. There, Judy!"
The bright-eyed retriever went dashing into the marsh and emerged wetly a minute or two later carrying the bedraggled corpse of a plump duck in her mouth.
"An excellent meal, as you say, Mr. Tebble," I put in.
The tanned man looked at us shrewdly as he thrust the duck carelessly into the large canvas bag he carried slung over one shoulder.
"Staying in the neighborhood, are you?"
"We are at the inn yonder for a few days," put in Solar Pons. "It seems an agreeable district."
"It's all right," said Tebble shortly. "Though if you were farming, like me, you would not say so. Difficult terrain for agriculture, gentlemen. Too much salt marsh hereabouts. And the land is inclined to flood at high tide in winter. Still, it's a living."
He ejected a cartridge from the breech of his shotgun. "Shouldn't get wandering off the path, gentlemen. Highly dangerous on these marshes. Good day to you!"
And he was off, shouldering the shotgun and whistling to the dog to follow him. Solar Pons stood, smoke curling from the bowl of his pipe, a thin smile on his lips, as he followed Tebble's figure until it was lost in the haze.
"What do you make of him, Pons?"
"A bold fellow and an excellent shot by appearances."
"Do you think he is concerned with this business? It is highly suspicious finding him here by these ruins like this." Solar Pons arched his eyebrows.
"I do not see why, Parker. You are here yourself."
"But only with you, Pons, on highly lawful business."
Solar Pons chuckled, pulling ruminatively at the lobe of his left ear.
"Mr. Tebble is hardly likely to know that, Parker. Now that we are here, let us just look about."
Having satisfied himself that we were alone on the knoll, Pons produced his powerful pocket lens and went purposefully up and down the old ruins. It was indeed a tumbledown, God-forsaken spot and as the minutes passed and I watched his energetic, purposeful figure I marveled once again at the patience and thoroughness with which he examined details of brickwork, earth flooring and broken reed-stems whose stories, so obvious to him, were literally a closed book to me.
There was an air of disappointment about him as he put the glass in its case with a snap.
"This is not the place, Parker."
He glanced up at the brightening sky.
"Well, I hardly thought we should score on the first shot. We must take another walk."
Without turning he walked energetically down the knoll and plunged forward into the marsh again.
8
Within some twenty minutes the landscape had again subtly changed; if anything, it had become even more bleak and somber than that surrounding Grimstone Manor. Though the sun still shone, the slimy ooze ever deepened about us, as the warmth melted the ice which lingered in the hollows and a clammy vapor hovered thickly over the surface.
But Solar Pons was his old, energetic self as he led the way with unerring precision ever deeper into the heart of the bog, so that I was hard put to follow at times. Now and again he stopped to consult the map but was then swiftly off again like an urgent animal upon some scent. Just as I was about to become really worried, another knoll loomed up before us and there were the tumbled walls and remains of an ancient building that looked, from its general outline, like a medieval abbey or monastery.
Solar Pons looked at me with satisfaction.
"We are improving, Parker. It is not so very difficult to find one's way about, providing one reads the map accurately and uses one's common sense."