"I will give thee my pledge, not a hair of thy head shall be damaged."
"He has the key in his pocket."
"What of that?"
"It's the key to the old house door yonder, an' she's either there, or but lately fetched away."
The Doctor proceeded, though not without opposition, to the search. The key was soon produced, and, accompanied by the repentant ballad-monger, he approached the mansion, which, as we have before noticed, was near at hand, apparently untenanted.
"Yonder knave, I think, cannot escape," said Dee.
"No, no," said his conductor, "unless some'at fetches him; he's too well hampered for that. His legs are aw smashed wi' that downfa'."
They entered a little court almost choked up with leaves and long grass. The door was unlocked, and a desolate scene presented itself. The hall was covered with damp and mildew, all was rotting in ruin and decay. Tim led the way up stairs. The same appearances were still manifest. The dark shadow of death seemed to brood there,—an interminable silence. They entered a small closet, nearly dark; and here, on a miserable pallet, lay the form of Grace Ashton! now, alas! pale and haggard. She seemed altogether unconscious of their presence. The horrid events of the preceding night had brought on mental as well as bodily disease. It was the practice of these treasure-seekers, either to raise up a dead body for the desired information, or to throw the living into such a state of mental hallucination that they should answer dark and difficult questions whilst in that condition. It not unfrequently happened, however, that the unfortunate victims to these horrid rites either lost their lives or their reason during the experiment.
We will not pursue the recital in the present case: suffice it to say that Grace Ashton was immediately removed and placed under the care of her friends; the Doctor went back to Kelly for further disclosures, but what was his surprise to find that, by some means or another, he had escaped. He now lost no time in returning to Buckley, communicating the painful, though in some degree welcome, intelligence that Grace Ashton had been rescued from her persecutors.
It was now time to adopt measures for their reception of the witch, who would, doubtless, not fail in her appointment.