Acting at once under impulse he touched the pistol inside the pocket of his jacket to see that it was all right, and slipped out of the room.
He had marked the point at which the shadow disappeared in the forest and he followed it on light foot.

He had been awakened as if a stroke of lightning had blazed suddenly before his eyes, and now his brain was seething with fierce thoughts, called up by a long chain of incidents, all at once made complete.
His hand slipped again to the revolver and he drew it forth, holding it ready for instant use.

Then he went forward swiftly again on noiseless steps, and once more he caught a glimpse of the flitting shadow straight ahead.

He increased his speed and the shadow resolved itself into the figure of a man, a figure that seemed familiar to him.
Two or three times the man stopped and looked back, but John had shrunk behind a tree and no pursuit was visible.

Then he resumed his rapid flight up the steep slope, and young Scott persistently followed, never once losing sight of the active figure.
The way led to the crest of the mountain which hung about two thousand feet above the village and it was a climb requiring some time and endurance, but though John's pulse beat fast it was with excitement and not with exhaustion.