“Oh, pooh, Ermie! What could happen to her between this and Heath Hill? Nonsense!” said Ranty, beginning to look uneasy.
“What hour did she leave here, Minnie?” asked Ray, his dark face paling slightly at the thought of danger to her.
“It was nearly dark, and she had to walk all alone over that lonesome heath. Oh, Ray! something must have happened to her!” cried Erminie, growing white with vague alarm.
“Why, what in Heaven’s name could have happened to her?” asked Ranty, catching the infection of Erminie’s fears. “No one has ever been molested on the heath.”
“Those lawless smugglers are continually prowling around now; and it is very unsafe for a young girl to venture in such a lonely place, unprotected, after night. Good heavens! if she should have fallen into their hands!” cried Ray starting up, in consternation.
“Oh, Ray! I hope not. Oh, Ray! do you really think she has?” exclaimed Erminie, clasping her hands in mortal terror.
“There is no telling. Some of that lawless gang are continually prowling about the woods, and shore, and heath, and if they saw Pet—Miss Lawless,” he added, checking himself, and biting his lip—“they would have made her a prisoner at once. There is no deed of violence too dark or dreadful for them to do. They are something worse than smugglers, I more than suspect. This smuggling, I fancy, serves but as a cloak for the far worse crime of piracy. I have heard that their leader—Captain Reginald, they call him—is one of the most reckless and daring desperadoes that ever made general war under the black flag; and those of his crew that I have seen roving about here, look to be cut-throats, savage enough for anything, from wholesale murder downward. Great Heaven! if Petronilla should have fallen into their hands!” said Ray, pacing up and down in much agitation.
“But it cannot be, Ray; it is impossible, absurd, I tell you. Why, man, what could these buccaneers possibly want with Pet? A nice prize she would be for any one to take in tow!” said Ranty, getting alarmed in spite of himself.
“They might take her in the hope of obtaining a large ransom for her release, or they might—oh! the thought is too horrible to contemplate!” exclaimed Ray, almost fiercely. “Ranty, why are we losing time here, when your sister may be in such danger? This is no time for idle talking. About! mount! and off in search of her! I will instantly follow!”
“Well, but wait a minute, Ray, before starting on this wild-goose chase,” said Ranty. “How do we know that she is not safely housed in Dismal Hollow, or somewhere in Judestown, all this time, while we are raving about pirates and abductors?”