"It's not easy. You have to understand, for example, in this great plain in the north, there are several hills standing in the middle, with all kinds of strange shapes. Can you see anything special about it?"

“This is a rare place to ride a horse and gallop.”

"Naturally, you will think so, but so far, this idea has cost countless people their precious lives. Can you see those areas covered with green grass?"

"On the surface, that area appears to be more fertile than other areas."

Stapleton laughed.

"That's the Great Greenpen Mire," he said, "where a careless step can kill a man or a horse. Yesterday, I spotted a little stallion from the marsh running across it, and it never came back.

It didn't run out. After a while, I saw it poking its head out of a swamp mud pit, but it finally sank in. Even in the dry season, it is very dangerous to cross that area because there have just been a few autumn rains.

, that area is even scarier now. However, I was able to find a path to the center of the mire and make it out alive. Oh my God! Another unlucky little stallion got stuck in the swamp."

At this time, I found a brown guy rolling in the green grass, twisting his neck, and then letting out bursts of painful screams. The sound echoed in the swamp, which scared me to the point where I felt cold all over.

, but Stapleton's nerves seem to be stronger than mine.

"It's finished!" he said. "The swamp and mud pits have completely swallowed it up. Within two days, two horses lost their lives. In the future, there may be more horses! This is because, in

Horses like to habitually go to that area in dry weather, but they don't know the dangers there until they get tangled up in the bog. Greenpen Mire is a really bad place to be."

"But didn't you say you could travel through the past?"

"Yes, there is a path here. Only those who are very agile can walk across it safely. I have found this path."

"But why would you want to walk into such a scary area?"

"Oh, have you seen the hill over there? It's like an island isolated by this ancient, impenetrable swamp pit. If you can get over, it's a paradise for rare plants and butterflies!"

"I'll go take a look someday," I said. Stapleton suddenly looked at me with surprise on his face.

"You should give up this idea!" He said: "That would be equivalent to me killing you. I dare say that it will be difficult for you to come back alive. I finally walked over by remembering some intricate ground marks.

."

"Oh God!" I shouted, "What's that sound?"

A low, long, and indescribably shrill sound spread throughout the swamp, filling the entire huge space in front of me, but I couldn't tell where the sound came from. Suddenly it became faint.

The humming sound suddenly turned into a deep roar, and then turned into a sad and rhythmic sound. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression.

"What a strange place the swamp is!" he said.

"What on earth is this sound?" I asked.

"People say it's Bascoville's hounds looking for their prey. I've heard it once or twice, but the sound has never been as loud as it is today."

I shivered with fear and looked around at the rolling fields dotted with patches of green trees. In the vast wilderness, except for two large crows croaking on the rocky hills behind us, there was no movement.

.

Stapleton said: "You are a well-educated person, surely you will not believe in nonsense legends, right?"

I said, "Where do you think this strange sound comes from?"

"Occasionally, swamp mud pits will make strange noises. The mud is sinking, or groundwater is rising up, or for other reasons."

"No, it was the sound made by some kind of animal just now."

"Oh, maybe. Have you heard the sound of a heron?" "Never."

"In our country, this is an extremely rare bird - almost extinct - but there may still be some in this swamp. Even if what we just heard was the call of the extremely rare heron, it is not surprising.

of."

"This is the strangest and most terrifying sound I have ever heard in my life."

"Yes, this place is indeed full of mystery and fear. Look, what do you think that is on the other side of the hill?"

On the steep hillside, there were many circles of gray stones, more than 20 of them.

"What is it? Is it a sheepfold?"

"No, that is the residence of our human ancestors. In prehistoric times, there were many savages living in the swamps. Since that period, few people have lived there. Therefore, the details of the places we discovered are still unknown.

Just like before they left their residence, those are their roofless huts. If you go there out of curiosity, you can still see the beds they sleep on and the stoves they cook on!"

"Oh, it's really the size of an ancient town! When did people still live there?"

"Probably the Neolithic Age - no definite date." "What did they do in that era?"

"On these hillsides, they grazed their cattle leisurely. When bronze weapons began to replace stone weapons, they learned to dig tin mines. Look at the ditch on the opposite mountain, that is the remnant of their mining. Yes.

"Dr. Watson, you will find some very special places in the swamp. Oh, sorry, please wait a moment! It must be the big moth of Cyclo."

A small flying object, whether it was a moth or a fly, crossed the path and flew away. I saw Stapleton pounce on it with rare explosive power and speed. What surprised me was that

The small flying object actually flew straight towards the big quagmire, but Stapleton waved his green net bag and jumped forward among the clumps of trees without stopping. Because he was wearing gray clothes and

He jumped forward vigorously, so he looked like a big moth. With the conflicting feelings of jealousy of his agile movements and worry that he would get stuck in the swamp mud pit, I stood there and watched.

Chase him forward.

Because I heard footsteps, I turned around and saw a woman on the roadside not far from me. She came from the direction where there was a wisp of smoke. This meant that she came from where Melipit was.

She had been hidden by the depressions in the swamp, and I didn't notice her until she got very close.

I believed she was the sister of Stapleton, whom I had heard of, for there were few women in the swamps, and I remembered hearing her described as a super beauty. The beauty who came toward me,

Indeed worthy of being classified as an extraordinary type, the disparity of appearance between brother and sister was perhaps never more evident than in this. Stapleton's complexion was neither dark nor light, his hair was light, and his eyes were gray;

My sister’s skin color is darker than all the dark-skinned women I’ve seen in the UK. She has a slender figure and is charming. She has a beautiful and proud face with regular facial features. If it weren’t for her sexy lips,

With her beautiful and passionate black eyes, her face looks cold. With her devilish figure and luxurious clothes, she is like a wonderful ghost on the quiet and peaceful swamp path.

When I turned around, she was looking at her brother first, and then she walked quickly towards me. I took off my hat and was about to greet her, when her words introduced a new line of thinking in my mind.

way.

"Go back!" she cried, "please go back to London immediately, leave immediately!"

I was so surprised that I stared at her blankly, not knowing why. Her eyes glowed like flames at me, and she tapped one foot impatiently on the ground.

"Why should I go back to London?" I asked.

"I can't explain it," she said earnestly, with a hint of strangeness in her voice. "For God's sake, do as I ask you. Go back to London, and never come to the marshes again.

Already."

"But I just arrived!"

"You, you, you!" she cried, "can't you see that my advice is good for you? Go back to London! Go back tonight! No matter what, you must leave immediately

This place! Oh, here comes my brother. Don't say a word about what I said to you. Could you please pick me that orchid over there on the sedge? In this swamp, the orchid

Quite a bit, you came too late and have already lost sight of the most beautiful and moving parts here."

Stapleton had given up the pursuit of the little flying object and returned to us, panting and flushed from exertion.

"Belle!" He called his sister's name, but I could tell that his tone of greeting was not enthusiastic.

"Jack, are you chasing the heat?" she said to her brother.

"Yes, I just hunted down a large Cyclopean moth, which is rarely seen in late autumn. Unfortunately, I didn't catch it!" He said lightly, but his bright little eyes looked at me and

His sister's face looked back and forth.

"It seems you have introduced yourselves to each other, right?"

"Yes," she said, "I was telling Sir Henry that he was too late to see the most beautiful part of the moor."

"Who do you think he is?" Stapleton said.

"I think it must be Sir Henry Bascowell," she said.

"No," I said, "I am just an ordinary doctor and a friend of Sir Henry. My name is Watson."

Her expressive face turned red and she said, "We actually started chatting amid a misunderstanding."

"It doesn't matter, you haven't been chatting for long." When Stapleton spoke, he looked at me and her suspiciously.

"I didn't treat Dr. Watson as an outsider, but talked to him as a local resident." She said: "For him, it doesn't matter whether the orchid blooms sooner or later. Dr. Watson, come and visit.

Is our place in Merripit okay?”

Not long after walking, they arrived at the residence of their brother and sister. It was a desolate and lonely house on the swamp. When this place was still prosperous, it used to be a shepherd's farmhouse. However, after repairs, it has now become a new-style building.

The house has an orchard surrounding the house, but the fruit trees are just like the trees in the swamp. They are short and stunted. There is a depressive scene everywhere. There is a strange, thin man who looks like this.

An old manservant in faded clothes who matched our residence took us in. The room was large, and the interior was elegantly and neatly decorated, from which we could also discover Miss Stapleton's hobbies. I looked out the window.

, the endless swamps scattered with granite rise and fall toward the distant horizon. I can't help but feel a little strange, what is the reason why these two well-educated brothers and sisters come to live in such a place?

"We picked a weird place, didn't we?" said Stapleton, "but we actually had a great time, didn't we, Belle?"

"Very happy." She said mechanically, but her tone seemed particularly forced.

"I once ran a school." Stapleton recalled, "It was in the north. Educational work was very boring and boring for people with my personality. However, I could live and study with teenagers and help

It is very valuable for me to cultivate young people and use their excellent personal qualities and lofty ideals to influence their hearts. Unexpectedly, I was unlucky. A serious infectious disease broke out in the school and three boys died.

This was such a heavy blow that the school never resumed classes, and all my investment was lost. If it hadn’t been for losing the joy of living together with those lovely students, I wouldn’t have been so upset about this unfortunate incident. Because I was so worried about it.
To be continued...