"You must allow, my dear general, that all these indications are somewhat vague."
"Yes, but when your hounds turn their noses to the wind and strain at the leash, that is nothing more than a vague indication, is it? And yet on that indication yon beat the woods with care, and very great care, too."
"Certainly," said the marquis.
"Well, that's my way also. Then, on your paths (where, by the bye, gravel is essentially lacking), I have discovered some very significant tracks."
"Steps of men and women?" exclaimed the marquis. "Pooh! they are everywhere."
"No, there are not everywhere steps crowded together and going in one direction, according to what I suppose to be the number of actors on the scene,--steps, too, of persons who were not walking, but running together."
"But how in the world could you tell that those persons were running?"
"Why, marquis, that's the A B C of the business."
"Tell me, quick!"
"Because their footmarks are more from the toes than the heels, and the earth is pushed backward. Isn't that the way to tell, my dear Master of Wolves?"