"No. I was thinking of the man who crossed a few hours in advance of him on horseback," returned Silk. "He appears to have been in something of a hurry, by the look of those hoof-marks. Be careful in the middle of the stream. Follow my lead."
At the farther side of the creek he dismounted, giving his bridle to Percy to hold.
Percy watched him as he strode away in the direction of a clump of dwarf oaks, pausing now and again to examine the ground. He went in among the trees and was out of sight for several minutes, and when again he appeared he was walking along the cart track by the edge of Crisp's orchard. Percy joined him with their two horses.
"What's that you've got in your hand?" he inquired, as the sergeant raised his foot to the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle.
"Looks like some fellow's cloth cap," said Silk, holding the thing suspended between a finger and thumb. "I found it over there, hanging from a tree branch. I guess the owner lost it while he was making his way through the bush. He couldn't find it, anyhow, for all his searching and groping about the ground."
"Do you mean he was blind?" Percy exclaimed.
"Blind? No!" Silk smiled. "I mean he lost it—had it brushed off his head—when it was dark night. If it had been daylight, he'd have seen it dangling from the twig that caught it as he passed."
"And why have you brought it away with you?" Percy was curious to know. "It doesn't look worth restoring to its owner. I should have let it hang."
"I suppose you would," nodded Silk. "But although it's only a worn-out cloth cap, heavy with rain, I'm interested in it—very much interested. I've learnt a lot about its owner already."