5
"Marcus had suggested someone should visit Pen Crags and 'try to talk sense into those freaks'. No one volunteered, so Marcus and I, in my four-by-four Wrangler, drove through the winding lanes into Pen Crags parish. High on the surrounding hillsides the shepherds and cattlemen watched us, appearing to make a blatant point of their lack of concealment. One of them must have blown a dog whistle, which set the entire canine population of the parish barking at once. This achieved, the stockmen melted invisibly into the hillsides.
"As we entered the village we had the disconcerting impression that the people had hushed the dogs, stopped work in farmyards and gardens, closed windows, doors and gates and disappeared into the darkened depths of sculleries and back parlours. In no time at all
