ed to the place on which he stood. "Ghost! witch! devil!"
he cried out, "take your eyes off me!" He shook his fist at her
furiously, with an oath--sprang back into the hall--and shut himself
into the dining-room from the sight of her. The panic which had seized
him once already in the kitchen-garden at Windygates, under the eyes
of the dumb cook, had fastened its hold on him once more.
Frightened--absolutely frightened--of Hester Dethridge!

The gate bell rang. Julius had returned with the doctor.

Anne gave the key to the girl to let them in. Hester wrote on her
slate, as composedly as if nothing had happened: "They'll find me in the
kitchen, if they want me. I sha'n't go back to my bedroom. My bedroom's
full of bad dreams." She descended the stairs. Anne waited in the upper
passage, looking over into the hall below. "Your brother is in the
drawing-room," she called down to Julius. "The landlady is in the
kitchen, if you want her." She returned to her room, and waited for what
might happen next.

After a brief interval she heard the drawing-room door open, and the
voices of the men out side. There seemed to be some difficulty in
persuading Geoffrey to ascend the stairs; he persisted in declaring that
Hester Dethridge was waiting for him at the top of them. After a little
they persuaded him that the way was free. Anne heard them ascend the
stairs and close his bedroom door.

Another and a longer interval passed before the door opened again.
The doctor was going away. He said his parting words to Julius in the
passage. "Look in at him from time to time through the night, and give
him another dose of the sedative mixture if he wakes. There is nothing
to b e alarmed about in the restlessness and the fever. They are only
the outward manifestations of some serious mischief hidden under them.
Send for the medical man who has last attended him. Knowledge of the
patient's constitution is very important knowledge in this case."

As Julius returned from letting the doctor out, Anne met him in the
hall. She was at once struck by the worn look in his face, and by the
fatigue which expressed itself in all his movements.

"You want rest," she said. "Pray go to your room. I have heard what the
doctor said to you. Leave it to the landlady and to me to sit up."

Julius owned that he had been traveling from Scotland during the
previous night. But he was unwilling to abandon the responsibility of
watching his brother. "You are not