"Yes. It would save him going all round through Little Stow."
"Very well, sir. Now we will go to the side of the wood nearest to the inn."
"Why?" asked Mr. St. Clive in surprise.
"Because I want to know whether my father crossed this place in going from the inn; and if so, I want to try and see where he went to. There is a lot to learn here, sir; but I must start at the beginning."
Mr. St. Clive was impressed, though he could not understand what Ralph meant; and so together they went back to that part of the wood which bordered upon Stow Ormond, and here Ralph began to walk to and fro, carefully surveying the grass, until presently he stopped and said—
"My father did cross here. He got over that stile."
"How do you know, Ralph?" asked Mr. St. Clive. "I confess that I see nothing to indicate it."
"Why, it is quite clear, sir," answered the boy. "See, the ground here is soft and muddy, and this is the imprint of my father's foot here in this soft red clay. That has taken the mark like wax. That is his square-toed boot."
Mr. St. Clive had to admit that so far the boy was correct. Some one wearing a square-toed boot had stepped into a little heap of clay, and the footmark was quite clearly defined.
"Now," Ralph went on, pointing to the stile, "here is a mark of clay on the stile, so he must have crossed here, and here the grass has been trodden down as he went on."