He had still a long walk by the uplands towards Mardykes Hall before he descended to the level of the lake.
The mist was still quite thick enough to circumscribe his view and to hide the general features of the landscape; and well was it, perhaps, for Sir Bale that his boyhood had familiarised him with the landmarks on the mountain-side.
He had made nearly four miles on his solitary homeward way, when, passing under a ledge of rock which bears the name of the Cat's Skaitch, he saw the same figure in the short cloak standing within some thirty or forty yards of him--the thin curtain of mist, through which the moonlight touched it, giving to it an airy and unsubstantial character.
Sir Bale came to a standstill.

The man in the short cloak nodded and drew back, and was concealed by the angle of the rock.
Sir Bale was now irritated, as men are after a start, and shouting to the stranger to halt, he 'slapped' after him, as the northern phrase goes, at his best pace.

But again he was gone, and nowhere could he see him, the mist favouring his evasion.
Looking down the fells that overhang Mardykes Hall, the mountain-side dips gradually into a glen, which, as it descends, becomes precipitous and wooded.

A footpath through this ravine conducts the wayfarer to the level ground that borders the lake; and by this dark pass Sir Bale Mardykes strode, in comparatively clear air, along the rocky path dappled with moonlight.
As he emerged upon the lower ground he again encountered the same figure.

It approached.