“Ye’re right, Jamie,” he said, “and she’s a right bonnie lass to carry on.”
With this, Nan and her friends were hurried along by James Blake toward the carriage, and in the moonlight, they drove up the steep hill toward the gray castle on the summit.
CHAPTER XXIV
AN ACCIDENT NEAR THE CASTLE
What a ride! Earlier in the evening, Grace had called it spooky. Now she said nothing, but just sat thinking, watching the tall old trees through the carriage window as the equipage rumbled along.
She thought of her mother and father and Walter and of the coming meeting in London. She thought of Nan and her brother and smiled. She thought—but the thought winged away, as the carriage swayed far over to the right, and James Blake stuck his head out and shouted to the driver, “Be careful there!” The carriage slowed down. Grace breathed easier. Then the warning was forgotten and the whole thing forged ahead again, bumping over stones and rocks and ruts.
The horses seemed possessed. The old carriage creaked and groaned under the strain. Momentarily, the passengers felt that the whole thing would topple over, or that the carriage, like the one-hoss shay, would collapse into a thousand pieces. Grace now was visibly frightened. Nan looked at her anxiously and gave a warning look to Bess whom, she was afraid, would break out in a tirade against the carelessness of the driver. Finally, they rounded the sharp turn in the road which Nan remembered as just preceding the castle gates.
They all breathed easier. They could see the castle now, beyond the gates and beyond the drive. But just as they looked reassuringly at one another, just as old James Blake murmured, “Home again,” the carriage gave a sharp lurch. The horses stopped suddenly, stumbled, regained their balance, and then stood, shaking their heads vigorously. The carriage gave one mighty shake, shivered, and settled down to silence on its ancient springs.
Inside, the occupants were jolted one on top of the other. The girls unscrambled quickly. Young and hardy, the jolt did not hurt them, but old James Blake had toppled over so that he was lying senseless against the door.