At this moment the hand at the opening was extended in an encouraging gesture, and a familiar voice murmured, quickly and softly:
“Hist! hist, Tabitha! Don’t be afraid! It is I.”
And the next instant the man came through the opening, and Malcolm Montrose stood within the room. He extended his hand in a warning manner as he approached, saying:
“Hist! hist! for Heaven’s love, control yourselves! be composed, and all will be well!”
By this time he stood before the mistress and the maid, who gazed upon him in astonishment indeed, but not in alarm.
“Let us speak in whispers, and then, thanks to the thickness of these walls and doors, we shall not be heard by the policemen on guard. Listen—there are bolts on this side of the chamber doors. Are they drawn fast?”
“No, sir,” replied Tabitha, in a hushed voice.
With a sign that they should remain silent and motionless, Malcolm glided on tip-toe, first to one door and then to the other, and cautiously slid the bolts into their sockets, making them both as fast on the inside as they were on the outside.
He then returned to the side of Eudora, and stood for a moment listening intently, and then apparently satisfied that all was well, he murmured:
“Peace be with the worthy king or bishop who built these walls so solidly! The sentinels without have heard nothing.”