“Oh,” says Tarlyon. “So you’ve heard me mention a house, have you!”
We stood very still, the three of us, and Tarlyon glared.
“Look here, sergeant,” he snarled, “if you ask me again where that house is I shall get cross.... I’ve told you, man! Body of God, if——”
“Please, sir!” said the sergeant quickly.
“What d’you mean by ‘Please, sir?’” Tarlyon was well away. It was a very warm day, you understand.
“I mean, sir,” said the sergeant of police, “please don’t swear on the name or the body of God.”
V
Well, we went on ... and, at last, unmistakably hit the path up which we had followed the little old woman. We followed the path, Tarlyon first, then me, then the sergeant. And then we came upon the clearing, and the sun lay on it like a carpet of gold. We stared. Like idiots, we stared. For, except the sun, there was nothing in that clearing but the rust and bones of a long-ruined house.
You had, of course, suspected as much. You had known that all along. You know all about those silent woods and slaughtered men. You have been let in before, by better men. But it was curious, all the same....
“Is this where you said the house was, sir?” the sergeant’s voice came gently.