"For the best of good reasons," said Pat. "The full moon is just beginning to wane to-night; that is the only night in the month when the Witch gets restless. I am sorry, for my part, that I asked Miss May to go to the island. I made sure, of course, that she'd funk it when it came to the point; I never guessed that she'd go on with it. Whatever she is, she's plucky; I'll say that for her."
"I don't see that she's so plucky," retorted Gerry; "she doesn't believe in the Witch, you know—she laughs when we speak about her."
"But suppose—suppose she—she sees her," said Patrick, his big black eyes growing full of gloom, and even fear. "Gerry, I'd never forgive myself if I did such a dastardly thing as to give a poor girl like that a real fright."
Gerald looked reflective.
"I don't think the Witch walks about until past eleven," he said, "and why shouldn't we go back for Janet at eleven? She'll have spent two hours on the island then, and will be quite satisfied with herself."
"Yes, that's all very fine, and then she'll boast to the end of her days that we haven't got a witch."
"Well, even that is better than to give her such a rousing fright that she'll be deprived of her senses. There's the supper gong, Pat; we must go into the house. Uncle Dennis will suspect something if we are not tucking-in as hard as possible in a minute or two from now."
"I can't help it, I am too anxious to eat," said Pat. "I wish I hadn't thought of the thing. Of course, I see we must go through with it now; she'd brag all her days that we had only pretended about the Witch if we didn't. But I vow I'll—I'll stay somewhere near and—and watch—I vow I will. Come along into the house, Gerry, and keep your own counsel, if you can; you have such a way of getting your face full of your thoughts that people can almost read them."
"If there is roley-poley pudding for supper," said Gerry, "I'll get my thoughts packed full of that, and my face too. The roley-poley pudding expression is innocent enough, isn't it?"
Pat gave his brother a playful cuff on the ear, and they went into the house together.