door, over the archway of which was carven:

_BE BOLD, BE BOLD; BUT NOT TOO BOLD,
LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD RUN COLD._

Now Lady Mary was a lass of spirit, and so, of course, she turned her
back on the sunshine, and opened the narrow, dark door. And there she
was in a narrow, dark passage. But at the end there was a chink of
light. So she went forward and put her eye to the chink--and what do you
think she saw?

Why! a wide saloon lit with many candles, and all round it, some hanging
by their necks, some seated on chairs, some lying on the floor, were the
skeletons and bodies of numbers of beautiful young maidens in their
wedding-dresses that were all stained with blood.

Now Lady Mary, for all she was a lass of spirit, and brave as brave,
could not look for long on such a horrid sight, so she turned and fled.
Down the dark narrow passage, through the dark narrow door (which she
did not forget to close behind her), and along the wide gallery she fled
like a hare, and was just going down the wide stairs into the wide hall
when, what did she see, through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a
beautiful young lady across the wide courtyard! There was nothing for
it, Lady Mary decided, but to hide herself as quickly and as best she
might; so she fled faster down the wide stairs, and hid herself behind a
big wine-butt that stood in a corner of the wide hall. She was only just
in time, for there at the wide door was Mr. Fox dragging the poor young
maiden along by the hair; and he dragged her across the wide hall and up
the wide stairs. And when she clutched at the bannisters to stop
herself, Mr. Fox cursed and swore dreadfully; and at last he drew his
sword and brought it down so hard on the poor young lady's wrist that
the hand, cut off, jumped up into the air so that the diamond ring on
the finger flashed in the sunlight as it fell, of all places in the
world, into Lady Mary's very lap as she crouched behind the wine-butt!

Then she was fair frightened, thinking Mr. Fox would be sure to find
her; but after looking about a little while in vain (for, of course, he
coveted the diamond ring), he continued his dreadful task of dragging
the poor, beautiful young maiden upstairs to the horrid chamber,
intending, doubtless, to return when he had finished his loathly work,
and seek for the hand.

But by that time Lady Mary had fled; for no sooner did she hear the
awful, dragging noise pass into the gallery, than