"Good Lord, that was a close call," he gasped. He explained in a few
words and then, commanding her to stand perfectly still, dropped to
the ground and carefully felt his way forward. Again he flashed the
light. In an instant he understood. They were on the brink of a
shallow quarry, from which, no doubt, the stone used in building the
foundations at Green Fancy had been taken.
Lying there, he made swift calculations. There would be a road leading
from this pit up to the house itself. The quarry, no longer of use to
the builder, was reasonably sure to be abandoned. In all probability
some sort of a stone-cutter's shed would be found nearby. It would
provide shelter from the fine rain that was falling and from the chill
night air. He remembered that O'Dowd, in discussing the erection of
Green Fancy the night before, had said that the stone came from a pit
two miles away, where a fine quality of granite had been found. The
quarry belonged to Mr. Curtis, who had refused to consider any offer
from would-be purchasers. Two miles, according to Barnes's quick
calculations, would bring the pit close to the northern boundary of
the Curtis property and almost directly on a line with the point where
he and Sprouse entered the meadow at the beginning of their advance
upon Green Fancy.
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