"
"Very; especially if anything should have happened to the child."
"What are you going to do now?" I inquired, seeing that Thorndyke rode
on as if with a definite purpose.
"There is a footpath through the wood," he replied. "I want to examine
that. And there is a house behind the wood which I should like to see."
"The house of the mysterious stranger," I suggested.
"Precisely. Mysterious and solitary strangers invite inquiry."
We drew up at the entrance to the footpath, leaving Willett the coachman
in charge of the three machines, and proceeded up the narrow track. As
we went, Thorndyke looked back at the prints of our feet, and nodded
approvingly.
"This soft loam," he remarked, "yields beautifully clear impressions,
and yesterday's rain has made it perfect."
We had not gone far when we perceived a set of footprints which I
recognized, as did Thorndyke also, for he remarked: "Miss
Haldean--running, and alone." Presently we met them again, crossing in
the opposite direction, together with the prints of small shoes with
very high heels. "Mrs. Haldean on the track of her niece," was
Thorndyke's comment; and a minute later we encountered them both again,
accompanied by my own footprints.
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