“It would seem,” said he smiling, “that you are right.”
All around lay the drowsy summer silence, broken only by the faint humming of insects, and the ripple of water against the stones.
“What,” demanded Elizabeth, “is the next move?”
“Up stream,” said David promptly.
“Why so certain?” asked Elizabeth.
David looked at her with something of the smile one might give to an inquiring child.
“Will you,” he said, “look down stream, and then look up stream; and I fancy you will perceive the answer yourself.”
Elizabeth looked down stream.
Here, as already mentioned, the river ran smoothly, bordered by the flat meadow and the wood. Some hundred yards distant the wood gave place to grass land, flat and open. Up stream the ground became uneven, rough, covered with blackberry bushes and small trees. The river itself was interspersed with little rocks, while sight of it extended not more than fifty yards ahead.
“You mean that up stream there are possible surprises,” suggested Elizabeth.