Her eyes were fixed on the irregular wall of rock which ran along the opposite side of the dell. “There,” she exclaimed under her breath, in terror as though not daring to raise her voice, “there, in that cleft, a man’s eyes; so horrible! Ah!”
She shuddered in fear.
“I can see nothing, dearest,” her lover said, reassuringly.
“They are gone now,” she returned, hardly daring to look towards the place. “But I saw them; they were there, glaring at us.”
“I will soon satisfy you,” he cried, leaving her and hurrying forward.
But she followed and clung to him. “No, no! Osbert, my love, stay here! Do not go; there is danger,” she implored.
It was scarcely the argument to avail with a soldier, and with a confident smile he released himself.
“I must go and see,” he insisted. “I will not have you frightened, dear one.”
He ran to a spot where the rocks shelved down and afforded a possibility of climbing. It was not by any means an easy ascent, but to an active man it was quicker than going by the level outlet round to the back of the rocks. Philippa followed him half way across the hollow; then stopped, watching him breathlessly. In a few seconds he stood on the rocky escarpment and looked all round.
“No one here; no one to be seen,” he called to her encouragingly.