"But there are the traces of a struggle in the sand," said he.
His companion made a gesture of protest.
"Monsieur deigns to have his joke; those marks would not deceive a
school-boy."
"It appears to me, however--"
"There can be no mistake, Monsieur Plantat. Certain it is that the sand
has been disturbed and thrown about. But all these trails that lay bare
the earth which was covered by the sand, were made by the same foot.
Perhaps you don't believe it. They were made, too, with the end of the
foot; that you may see for yourself."
"Yes, I perceive it."
"Very well, then; when there has been a struggle on ground like this,
there are always two distinct kinds of traces--those of the assailant
and those of the victim. The assailant, throwing himself forward,
necessarily supports himself on his toes, and imprints the fore part of
his feet on the earth. The victim, on the contrary, falling back, and
trying to avoid the assault, props himself on his heels, and therefore
buries the heels in the soil. If the adversaries are equally strong, the
number of imprints of the toes and the heels will be nearly equal,
according to the chances of the struggle. But what do we find here?"