The instructions were precise, and had been confirmed in the matter of the tree.

Evidently the person that wrote them had been upon the Peak, and what, if they were lies, was to be gained by the cheat?
"I pulled out the parchment again and read it through; then started to my feet with fresh energy.

I was just leaving the little lawn and returning down my path, when it struck me that the bush on my left hand was of a curious shape.

It seemed a mere tangled knot of creepers covered with large white blossom, and rose to about my own height.

Carelessly I thrust my stick into the mass, when its point jarred upon--stone! "Yes, stone! In a moment my knife was out and I was down on hands and knees cutting and tearing at the tendrils.