“Have you noticed any suspicious movement?” I asked.
“None,” he said, “save that one of my men remarked not long since that he never knew before how many stumps there were in the open space between the block and the forest.”
“Stumps?” I said, and then I looked out again.
“Aye, stumps,” said Carteret. “For myself I cannot call to mind when there were so many there, but, perchance I never noticed it closely.”
I saw what it meant now.
“They are stumps that have put forth green shoots since morn,” I said. “And, mark you how those same stumps seem to have legs?”
“Green sprouts? Legs?” repeated the Captain, like a man sorely puzzled.
“Yes,” I said, “look.” Then I showed him that, though the body of the stump was black and dead, yet on the top were bright green little twigs.
Carteret rubbed his eyes to see better.
“Note,” I went on, “that large stump with knobs on it, which give it the appearance of a man’s face.”