"You are aware that a dyke intersects the heath before us, namely, Worston Moor?" said Potts.
Jem nodded his head.
"I must request particular attention to your plan as I proceed, Master Nicholas," pursued the attorney. "I now wish to be informed by you, James Device, whether that dyke cuts through the middle of the moor, or traverses the side; and if so, which side? I desire also to be informed where it commences, and where, it ends?"
Jem scratched his head, and reflected a moment.
"The matter does not require consideration, sirrah," cried Nowell. "I must have an instant answer."
"So yo shan," replied Jem; "weel, then, th' dyke begins near a little mound ca'd Turn Heaod, about a hundert yards fro' my dwellin', an runs across th' easterly soide o't moor till it reaches Knowl Bottom."
"You will swear this?" cried Potts, scarcely able to conceal his satisfaction.
"Swere it! eigh," replied Jem.
"Eigh, we'n aw swere it," chorused the hinds.
"I'm delighted to hear it," cried Potts, radiant with delight, "for your description corresponds exactly with Master Nowell's plan, and differs materially from that of Mistress Nutter, as Squire Nicholas Assheton will tell you."