There
was no more talking now. There was a kind of stealthiness in their
progress, even when they walked erect; but it soon appeared to Lionel
that Roderick, who went first, seemed to be keeping a series of natural
eminences between them and a certain distant tract of this silent and
lonely land. It was only a guess; but it accounted for all kinds of
circuitous little turns; anyhow, there was nothing for him but to follow
blindly whither he was led. Of course he kept his eyes open; but there
was no sign of life anywhere in this barren wilderness; there was
nothing but the empty undulations of heath and thick grass, with
sometimes a little tarn coming in sight, and always the farther hills
forming a sort of solitary amphitheatre along the horizon.
Suddenly Roderick stopped short, and quietly put out his hand to arrest
the progress of his companions. Involuntarily they stooped; and he not
only did likewise, but presently he was on his back on the heather, with
the telescope balanced as before. After a long and earnest scrutiny, he
offered the glass to Lionel.
"They're there," he said, "but in an ahfu' bad place for us."
Eagerly Lionel got hold of the telescope and tried to balance it as the
keeper had done; but either his hand was trembling, or the wind had a
purchase on the long tube, or he was unaccustomed to its use; at all
events he could make out nothing but nebulous and uncertain patches of
color.
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