"You know where a path forks off, not far from the wood—just after the beginning of the marshes. If General Villiers took that turn by mistake, he would soon get entangled among the dykes—not able to find his way out. He might be somewhere not far from where Walters is now. Perhaps Walters has thought of that—or Ricketts, more likely—and so they have gone to see. We must get round to them the same way, by the other path. O come!"
Jean hastened over the snow with a speed which Evelyn could not equal, even helped by Mr. Trevelyan; and once or twice their eager guide was called in, again to press ahead.
"Take care, Jean! Mind what you are after!"
"O look!" came the same instant, in Jean's soft bell-like tones. "Walters has turned off here at right angles across the marsh. Here are his footsteps and Ricketts' too. What made him do that? I don't know how they have crossed the dykes. Walters is too heavy to jump, and Ricketts, now he is lame—No, no: they've had to come back. Here are their footmarks again. They've gone round by the other path, after all, as we are doing. It's the only way, I know, on a night like this. Look how the lantern swings—as if they were trying to make signals."
"My husband," whispered Evelyn.
"If I was to go nearer, sir, and shout to them?" suggested Adams from behind.
"It would be a waste of time. No, Miss Jean is right, Adams. We must keep to our path. The turn is not distant now. If Mrs. Villiers—"
"Don't think of me. I only want not to be a hindrance. Shall we reach Walters this way, Jean?"
"O yes, soon. It is only going round, instead of trying to leap the dykes. She could never manage that, could she, father? I don't think it would be pleasant for any of us in this dim light, with the banks so slippery."
"Jean is more at home in the marshes than I am myself," said Mr. Trevelyan, as Evelyn's eyes again appealed to him. "She and the boys have explored every inch of them, I suppose."