t better than I
do."

"Is it hard to know?"

"Very hard. You see, for example, this great plain to the north
here with the queer hills breaking out of it. Do you observe
anything remarkable about that?"

"It would be a rare place for a gallop."

"You would naturally think so and the thought has cost several
their lives before now. You notice those bright green spots
scattered thickly over it?"

"Yes, they seem more fertile than the rest."

Stapleton laughed.

"That is the great Grimpen Mire," said he. "A false step yonder
means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor
ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for
quite a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him
down at last. Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but
after these autumn rains it is an awful place. And yet I can find
my way to the very heart of it and return alive. By George, there
is another of those miserable ponies!"

Something brown was rolling and tossing among the green sedges.
Then a long, agonized, writhing neck shot upward and a dreadful
cry echoed over the moor. It turned me cold with horror, but my
companion's nerves seemed to be stronger than mine.

"It's gone!" said he. "The mire has him. Two in two days, and
many more, perhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the
dry weather, and never know the difference until the mire has
them in its clutches. It's a bad place, the great Grimpen Mire."

"And you say you can penetrate it?"

"Yes, there are one or two paths which a very active man can
take. I have found them out."

"But why should you wish to go into so horrible a place?"

"Well, you see the hills beyond? They are really islands cut off
on all sides by the impassable mire, which has crawled round them
in the course of years. That is where the rare plants and the
butterflies are, if you have the wit to reach them."

"I shall try my luck some day."

He looked at me with a surprised face.

"For God's sake put such an idea out of your mind," said he.
"Your blood would be upon my head. I assure you that there would
not be the least chance of your coming back alive. It is only by
remembering certain complex landmarks that I am able to do it."

"Halloa!" I cried. "What is that?"

A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It
filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it
came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar