The keeper having slaked a thirst very natural on such a sultry day returned, and re-entered the wood.

I had decided that it would be the best plan to follow in his rear, because then there would be little chance of crossing his course haphazard, and the dogs would not sniff any strange footsteps, since the footsteps would not be there till they had gone by.

To hide from the eyes of a man is comparatively easy; but a dog will detect an unwonted presence in the thickest bush, and run in and set up a yelping, especially if it is a puppy.
It was not more than forty yards from the barn to the wood: there was no mound or hedge, but a narrow, deep, and dry watercourse, a surface drain, ran across.

Stooping a little and taking off my hat, I walked in this, so that the wheat each side rose above me and gave a perfect shelter.

This precaution was necessary, because on the right there rose a steep Down, from whose summit the level wheat-fields could be easily surveyed.