"One night she stole to the crypt as usual, bringing food and wine for her husband, and as all seemed safe and quiet, he came up into the churchyard to get a little fresh air and exercise. They were walking together along the path that leads to the well, when suddenly there was a shout, and they found themselves surrounded by the band of troopers.
Their captain had discovered that someone left the house at night, and had kept watch with extra care. He had caused his men to tie cloths over their boots, so that they could walk very silently, and when Lady Margaret was seen vanishing down the garden, they had followed her. They tried to make Sir Ralph prisoner, but he was determined not to be taken alive, and fought desperately, with his back to the little bit of stone wall left near the well. One man had no chance against a troop of soldiers, however, and he was soon despatched. When they found he was dead, they laid him down beside the well, and left him until they could return by daylight and carry his body away. They arrived the next day with a stretcher, and there, lying close by his side, with her arms flung round him, they found Lady Margaret--quite mad. They treated her gently, and took her back to Malbury Hall, and she lived there many years; but she never recovered her senses, and whenever she could escape from her keepers she would try to run by night to the churchyard. They guarded her as carefully as they could, but she was cunning, and at last she managed to evade them, and get a start. When they discovered her loss, they followed her, and found her lying drowned at the bottom of the well. They buried her beside her husband, in the transept, and a beautiful monument was erected over their grave."
"I don"t wonder they"re supposed to haunt the place," commented Gwethyn.
"I vote we go. This churchyard is too spooky for my taste. I don"t want to meet either Cavaliers or Roundheads, thank you!"
"You mustn"t go before trying your luck at the well," said Githa.
"Everybody who comes here goes through the ceremony. It"s most ancient."
"What have I got to do? Will it raise ghosts?"
"Certainly not. You utter a wish, then you throw a stone into the water, and count the bubbles that rise. If they are an odd number, you"ll get the wish, but if they"re even you won"t!"
"All right--here goes! I wish Mother may bring me back an Australian c.o.c.katoo from Sydney. What a splash! Now, how many bubbles?
One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight! Oh, what a sell! I suppose she won"t, though I"ve asked her in several of my letters. It"s your turn now. What are you going to wish?"
"That some time I may go and live at the Grange again. My stone went in with a plop, didn"t it? One-two-three-four-five-six-seven! O jubilate! I shall get it."
"Please invite me when you"re settled there."
"You bet I will!"
"Now I"m not going to stay in this haunted hole two seconds longer,"
proclaimed Gwethyn. "It"s growing ever so dark, and Sir Ralph and Lady Margaret may come promenading out any time. I"d rather have burglars than ghosts."
"Right-o! We"ll go across the stile here, and take a short cut home through the plantation," agreed Githa, leading the way.
CHAPTER XVIII
A Discovery
It was indeed high time for the girls to go home. The sun had set nearly an hour ago, and the dusk was creeping on to that particular stage when the law of the land requires cyclists to light up. They climbed the stile and plunged into the thick copse of young oaks and beeches. It was dim and mysterious and gloomy under the trees, a slight breeze had arisen, and the rustle of the leaves sounded like gentle footsteps.
"It"s rather spooky and creepy," said Gwethyn. "I wish there were a moon."
"There is; but it"s a new one. I saw it--a tiny thin crescent--when we were in the lane."
"Don"t you feel rather like the Babes in the Wood? It"s getting darker and darker. If we met the two villains I should certainly "quake for fear"."
"We"re not likely to meet anyone. It"s Uncle"s wood."
"I thought I heard footsteps."
"I think it"s nothing but the wind rustling the branches."
"Oh no, Githa! It is somebody! Do stop and listen. I can hear voices, and they"re coming towards us. Suppose they"re poachers! Let us hide quickly behind these bushes, and let them pa.s.s without seeing us. I wish we"d brought Rolf."
Since the midnight adventure at school Gwethyn was disposed to be much alarmed at all doubtful characters, and would have gone considerably out of her way to avoid a tramp. She seized Githa"s arm, and drew her aside now, in nervous haste, and together the pair crouched behind a thick sheltering group of bramble bushes. In the dim light they were just able to distinguish the features of the wayfarers who advanced; one was unmistakably Bob Gartley, and the other they recognized as a carter whom they had sometimes noticed hanging about the "Dragon". The errand of the two men seemed of a doubtful nature, and might well justify Gwethyn"s suspicions. They stopped opposite the very bush where the girls were concealed, and taking various pieces of wire and string out of their pockets, commenced to set traps with much care, and a skill worthy of a better cause. They were so near that the unwilling listeners behind the brambles could overhear every word that was spoken.
"Things aren"t the same as they used to be," remarked Bob Gartley sulkily. "It"s hard work for a poor man to get even a rabbit nowadays.
Look out, Albert, you"re spoiling that noose!"
"It was very different when I was a boy," returned Albert. "Mr. Ledbury didn"t own the shooting in these woods then, and they weren"t so strictly kept. One had an easy chance of a pheasant or two."
"Aye, it all belonged to the Grange, and it always went with the house in those days."
"Pity it"s changed hands."
"Yes; old Mr. Ledbury never used to trouble much, and if one took a walk in his woods there was no particular questions asked."
"This lawyer chap"s too sharp."
"He got more than his share. When the old man died, everyone in the village said it was a shame those two Hamilton children should have been overlooked and left nothing. Some folks went so far as to say there must have been a later will, and gave Mr. Wilfred the credit of suppressing it. There was a lot of talk at the time. It seems there was a big sum of money, thousands of pounds it was, that old Mr. Ledbury was known to have received only a day or so before his death. It had been paid over to him in notes. He hadn"t put it in the bank, and after his death it never turned up. He was a queer chap was old Ledbury; fond of gambling, and the tale went that he must have lost it at play."
"Now you speak of it, I"ve heard some talk in the village myself. They say old Ledbury was a miser as well as a gambler, and h.o.a.rded things like a magpie. It was a queer thing what he"d done with that money."
"It was uncommon queer," replied Bob, "and between you and me, Albert, I could tell you a thing or two about that."
"What do you mean?"
"Something I saw once," admitted Bob cautiously. "But so far it"s not been worth my while to let on about it, and I ain"t been able to take advantage of it myself. I sometimes think if I"d a pal now----"
"You and me was always thick, Bob," put in Albert eagerly.
"I dare say. But you go clacking like an old hen, when you"ve a drop of drink in you!"
"I wouldn"t touch aught--leastways not more than my usual pint at supper."
"If I thought you could keep a still tongue, the two of us might manage a pretty big deal. It "ud be a risky enough job, but I know you don"t stop at a trifle."
"Not me!" chuckled Albert.
"Well, I don"t mind tellin" you that I was peepin" in under the blinds at the Grange on the very night before old Mr. Ledbury died."
"And what did ye see?"
"Never you mind what I saw exactly, but all they panels aren"t solid like the rest. There be one as takes out."
"Wheer?"
"Ain"t I tellin" you? In the room at the Grange, plump opposite the fireplace it were. There"s a k.n.o.b as twists. Look here, if you"ve a-set that noose proper, why can"t you be comin"? Do you expect me to be waitin" on you same as if you was Captain Gordon? If we ain"t quick the keepers will be comin". That Morris always takes a round about dark, that"s what brought me out so early."
"All right, but as you was a-sayin"----" grunted Albert, his voice sinking to a murmur as he rose and followed his estimable friend farther into the wood, where more snares might be set with advantage during the progress of their conversation.
When they judged the two men to be at a safe distance, Githa and Gwethyn emerged from behind the bush, and scurried away along the path as fast as the gathering dusk would permit. So anxious were they to get out of the wood, that neither spoke a word until they had reached the farther side, and, climbing the fence, found themselves once more in the fields below The Gables.