“There certainly did seem to be a moving light.”
“Oh yes, we heard that too! We all sat up on our elbows and listened to it. Like a flute playing. It probably came from the road, though it sounded, certainly, as though it issued from Witch’s Wood!” Eve laughed. “Miss Drury said that if last night instead of to-night had been Midsummer Eve we might have been in the thick of a fairy revel! But it didn’t keep us awake; we all floated off into deep slumber. Perhaps it may have been a magic lullaby, for not one of us stirred until Miss Drury fairly commanded us to wake this morning!” Eve moved off. “Well, the Pioneering’s over,” remarked she; “and Midsummer Day’s to-morrow with—whatever it brings. I only wish it could bring the Cup!”
There was no need for words; every one else was wishing the same wish too. Everybody, strange to say, at that moment except Betty!
For the last scrap of Eve’s sentence had not even been heard by her. She was remembering with all her might and main the words that had gone before. She stood speechless with surprise, still wondering, for several moments after Eve had disappeared.
What had Eve said? Had she really said it? Could Betty’s ears by any chance have misled her? she asked herself. That the pioneering Guides from their night camp had seen a light from Witch’s Wood! Also that they had heard the sound of flute-playing! Like a fairy revel; like a magic lullaby, Eve had said. She had been only laughing, of course; but could it be—oh, could it possibly be that the magic was true?
For a certain suspicion had been dawning in Betty’s imaginative mind ever since yesterday. It had seemed too unlikely an idea, so she had told herself at first, to be true, and she had decided not to take any one into her confidence, not even Gerry, in case her ideas should be laughed at as absurd. But now—well, she could not keep the idea to herself any more. After supper on Sunday evenings the girls were always free to walk about the grounds in couples until bedtime. To-night Gerry was to be Betty’s partner. After hearing what Eve had just said, the Mascot could hardly wait until the after-supper-time came.
“Gerry——!”
“Whatever is it?” inquired Gerry solicitously. That Betty’s state of mind was one of extreme anxiety about something or other had been evident all through supper-time. She had eaten nothing and had narrowly escaped an early dismissal to bed on account of her lack of appetite. “Though perhaps the hour outside will do you as much good as an extra hour in bed in this hot weather,” as Nurse had conceded at last. “No doubt you’re excited about your investiture to-morrow.”
“Is it the investiture?” inquired Gerry now.