A When I got to the top of the hill the sun was already going down. The hillsides below me were golden- green on one side and grey shadow on the other. There was no sound and nothing moved on the moor. One
great grey bird flew over my head. He and I seemed to be the only living things between the blue sky and the empty land. But down below me there was a circle of old stone huts. * One of these still had enough roof to
keep a person dry when the weather was bad. My heart jumped as I saw it. This must be the stranger's hiding place - I could now find out his secret!
B
A little path through the rocks took me down to the door. Everything was quiet. The man might be waiting inside, or he might be outside on the moor. I closed my hand on the gun in my pocket , walked quickly to the
door and looked in. The hut was empty.
But I was right. This was the place where the man lived. Some blankets in a corner showed me where he slept. I could see the ashes of a fire in the old fireplace. Next to it there were some cooking pots and a bucket of water . Empty tins were lying on the floor, so I knew that someone had used the place for several days. An old table stood in the middle of the hut, and on this I found a small bag. Inside there was some bread, some tins of meat and two tins of fruit. Then I noticed a piece of paper under the bag. I picked it up and read it. It said. "Dr Watson has gone to Coombe Tracey
: This secret man was collecting information about me! Who was he? What was he doing here? Was he my enemy? I knew I could not leave the hut until I had answers to these questions.
