It was better to make sure before one raised the village - and
Marquis, markedly, was beyond any aid the village could have
furnished. This course was strikingly justified by every
after-event.

I have said that the night was not dark. The sky was hard with
stars, like a mosaic. This white moonlight entered through the
tree-tops and in a measure illumined the road. We were easily
able to see, when we reached the point, that the cut-under had
turned out into the road circling the mountain to the west of the
village. The track was so clearly visible in the light, that I
must have observed it had I been thinking of the road instead of
the one who had set out upon it.

I was going on quickly, when Marquis stopped. He was stooping
over the track of the vehicle. He did not come on and I went
back.

"What is it?" I said.

He answered, still stooping above the track.

"The cut-under stopped here."

"How do you know that?" I asked, for it seemed hardly possible to
determine where a wheeled vehicle had stopped.

"It's quite clear," he replied. "The horse has moved about
without going on."