To that task he
set himself with a great deal of patience, which might have surprised
his friends, for he had been always credited not with patience so much
as brilliancy; and little by little, from one point to another, he at
last succeeded in piecing out the situation. First he remarked that,
although Archie set out in all the directions of the compass, he always
came home again from some point between the south and west. From the
study of a map, and in consideration of the great expanse of untenanted
moorland running in that direction towards the sources of the Clyde, he
laid his finger on Cauldstaneslap and two other neighbouring farms,
Kingsmuirs and Polintarf. But it was difficult to advance farther.
With his rod for a pretext, he vainly visited each of them in turn;
nothing was to be seen suspicious about this trinity of moorland
settlements. He would have tried to follow Archie, had it been the
least possible, but the nature of the land precluded the idea. He did
the next best, ensconced himself in a quiet corner, and pursued his
movements with a telescope.
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