When the sun was in the west the trees and roofs of Steynholme were so clearly reflected in the mirror of the pool that a photograph of the scene needed close scrutiny ere one could determine whether or not it was being held upside down.

But the sun shone directly on the water now, so the shelving bottom was visible, and Grant's quick eye was drawn to a rope trailing into the depths, and fastened to an iron staple driven firmly into the shingle.
He was so surprised that he spoke aloud.
"What in the world is that ?" he almost gasped; a premonition of evil was so strong in him that he actually gazed in stupefaction at a blob of water and a quick-spreading ring where a fat trout rose lazily in midstream.
Somehow, too, he resisted the first impulse of the active side of his temperament, and did not instantly tug at the rope.
Instead, he shouted:-- "Hi, Bates!" An answering hail came from behind a screen of laurels on the right of the house.

There lay the stables, and Bates would surely be grooming the cob which supplied a connecting link between The Hollies and the railway for the neighboring market-town.
Bates came, a sturdy block of a man who might have been hewn out of a Sussex oak.

His face, hands, and arms were the color of oak, and he moved with a stiffness that suggested wooden joints.
Evidently, he expected an order for the dogcart, and stood stock still when he reached the lawn.

But Grant, who had gathered his wits, summoned him with crooked forefinger, and Bates jerked slowly on.
"What hev' ye done to yer face, sir ?" he inquired.
Grant was surprised.