Here and there a wisp of fog ringed a tree-trunk or smoked upon the ground.

But for the rest, the clearing, littered with the charred debris of a native village, lay bare and desolate in a cold morning light.
'It looks a bit untidy,' said Gorley, with a laugh.

Two of the troopers approached and laid their hands upon his shoulders.

At first he made a movement to shake them off.

Then he checked the impulse and stood quietly while they pinioned him.