"I won't get into your power, Janet," and then exclaimed in astonishment, when she saw her two cousins standing by her bedside, the moonlight streaming all over them:
"What is the matter?" she said. "You up, Pat, and you, Gerry! What does this mean?"
The moment her words reached his ears Gerry flung himself on his knees, buried his head in the bedclothes, and began to sob violently.
"Oh, do shut up, you little beggar!" said Pat. "What is the good of waking the house? Biddy, we are in an awful mess, Gerry and I, and we can't talk to you here. Won't you get up and come down to the hall, and let us tell you what is the matter? Bruin is the only living creature there, and he'll not let out a sound if we tell him that you are coming."
"Yes, I'll be with you in a minute," said Bridget.
She rose quickly, dressed almost in a twinkling, and a few minutes later was standing with her cousins in the great entrance hall of the Castle.
They quickly told the first part of their tale—all about Janet, and the challenge which had passed between them. Biddy was just as fearless as her cousins, but she, too, was superstitious, and she felt a catch in her breath, and a sudden sensation of respect for Janet, when the boys told her how absolutely indifferent to fear she was, and how willing to spend three hours alone on the haunted island.
"We went back for her sharp at eleven. Poor little spunky thing! she hadn't a scrap of fear when we left her. There she stood, smiling and nodding to us, with that stupid old novel in her hand, and just making us believe that she was going to have quite a good time; but when we went back she was nowhere to be seen. As sure as you are there, Biddy, there wasn't a sight of her anywhere."
"The Witch came, of course, and took her away," said Gerry. He shook all over as he spoke.
"Don't be a goose," said Biddy. "Let me think; it couldn't have been the Witch."