Giles Hampton was spending a short holiday in Wales. A friend of his had recently sold his business in Liverpool and had moved to Wales. This friend, whose name was Beverley, had built himself a house in Caernar- vonshire, near the Snowdon mountains. There was an ancient church called Fablan Fawr a few hundred yards away from his house, so Beverley called his new house Fablan Fawr too.
Giles was very interested in geology. He loved studying rocks and stones. Since that part of Wales is of particular interest to the geologist, Giles was very glad indeed to receive Beverley's invitation to visit him. Giles arrived at Fablan Fawr on the evening of October 10. The house was very modern and extremely comfortable. It stood between the mountains and the Conway Valley. A few hundred yards behind the house lay the steep, rocky mountains.
The weather was fine, and for the first week of his stay Giles went with Beverley on several short geological expeditions. They also went shooting together once or twice, and they visited neighbours in the district. But on October 18 Beverley had business in the local market town. So Giles decided to make an all-day excursion to a place on the other side of the mountains, about ten miles away. The sky was cloudy when Giles set off after an early breakfast. In his bag were his sandwiches and his geological hammers, and information from Beverley's servant, Parry, about his route across the mountains.
It was after twelve o'clock when Giles arrived and began unpacking his hammers. The sun had come out, and he was hot, tired and uncomfortable. But he soon forgot his discomfort when he examined the many interesting rocks. It was half-past three before he had finished. He packed his hammers and notebook away in his bag again and started on the journey back to Fablan Fawr. By this time the sky was cloudy again. As he walked along, light rain began to fall. Then, as he climbed higher, a thick, damp mist came down and covered everything. Soon the mist grew thicker and he could see only a few feet in front of him.
On his earlier journey across the mountains Giles had looked out for landmarks - a waterfall, an old tree, a small lake. He thought these would help him to find his way back to Fablan Fawr. But in the mist everything looked strange and different. Soon he crossed a stream which he did not recognize. Then he knew that he had taken the wrong path.
For nearly half a mile he went back the way he had come, only to become more lost and confused than before.
`This is no good,' he thought. He sat down for a few moments to consider his position. The thought of a cold, uncomfortable night alone on the hillside did not particularly worry him. But he knew that Beverley would be very anxious. Giles did not want to worry his friend. `He'll come out to search for me,' thought Giles, `and bring the neighbours too. I can't let him organize a search party. I really can't.'