I had not been long in my hiding-place before he came out, followed by his two dogs, and going to some distance from the door, he sat down on a log.

For some minutes he smoked, then rose, and after looking cautiously round slipped away among the trees.

I saw that he was going off in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south of the forest.

I knew that the forest did not extend far in that direction, and thinking that I should be able to catch a sight of him on its borders, I left the bushes and ran through the trees as fast as I could to get ahead of him.

Coming to where the wood was very open, I found that a barren plain beyond it, a quarter of a mile wide, separated it from the range of hills; thinking that the old man might cross this open space, I climbed into a tree to watch.