Suddenly a lusty calling broke the silence.
“What can that be?” cried Master Ronald; “it sounds uncommon near.”
“It be Lord Christopher’s voice,” said Abigail; “summat awful has happed.”
“I cannot get the direction of the sound; can you?” asked the young man, holding his hand to his ear.
“Just ahead o’ us,” cried Abigail. “Hurry!”
After several moments of brisk riding they came to a bar of sand where the sea had once sent up an arm. All was silent again, save for the hooting of an owl.
“I see naught,” said the student, reining in his horse.
“There below us be summat dark,” said Abigail, pointing.
As she spoke, the calling for help broke forth again not a stone’s throw from them. This time the voice was unmistakably Lord Christopher’s.
“Halloo!” cried Master Ronald, riding forward, “what’s the matter there?”