“What did the surveyors and the soldiers think of the apparitions?” asked Smoholler, after the boys had eaten for a while.
“They were surprised by them,” answered Percy.
“Knocked ’em higher’n a kite!” added Cute. “It was a neat piece of hocus-pocus, however you did it. Say, couldn’t you give us another squint at that angelic female of yours?”
“The White Spirit will come at my bidding,” replied the Prophet. “Would you like to see her?” he demanded of Percy Vere.
“Wherefore?” rejoined the youth.
“She might give you intelligence of your father?”
Percy started at this, but shook his head incredulously after a moment’s reflection. The Prophet appeared to divine his thoughts.
“You do not believe her to be a spirit?” he asked.
“Candidly, I do not.”
“How, then, could she appear upon the face of that inaccessible cliff?”