by any person
entering the dell. Certain that none but a chance traveller ever
did come nigh this haunted spot, he was not afraid to leave her;
and after studying the simple contrivance by which the round slab
was raised and lowered in the well, he dropped it to its former
position, and went on his way to the village with a light heart.

The secret of the lost treasure, he was fully certain, was now his;
and though the work of rescue might require time and patience and
labour, he was convinced it could be accomplished, and that he,
with the help of his sister, should find himself competent for the
task.

It was evening before he returned, but he found Petronella where he
had left her. She had slept almost unbrokenly throughout the day,
and was now greatly refreshed and invigorated. The air of the
forest and the sweet breath of the pines were enough, as she said,
to give her new life; and she descended eagerly to meet and greet
her brother, and to examine the purchases he had made.

The first excitement was the ass who bore the heavy load. Cuthbert
had had some trouble in making a way for the creature to pass down
into the dell; but once here, he would never stray away of his own
accord. Indeed, he appeared to have no disposition that way, for he
began at once to crop the emerald sward around the well with an air
of great contentment, whilst Cuthbert unloaded him and displayed
his purchases to his sister.

"There is thy suit, young Peter," he said with a smile. "I trow
thou wilt make a pretty boy, and wilt find thyself more fitted for
our new life thus habited, and canst rove in the forest thus clad,
an thou hast a mind that way, more safely than thou couldest in a
maid's dress. And here is wine to put some colour into thy pale
cheeks, and food to last us many a day, and blankets to wrap about
us by night when the wind blows chill, and this heavy cloak to keep
the rain from thee when the skies weep. And see, here is a rope
which I trow will let me to the very bottom of the well, an we can
once turn the water some other way; and the ass can drag me forth
again--and the treasure likewise--when once this matter has been
accomplished. The hot, dry weather is coming apace. Men say already
that the springs be something low. All this favours our plans; and
if I can find the spring that feeds this well, as like enough I
may, then will I make shift to turn its waters another way, and the
pixies' well shall be dry!"

Petro