he enclosure, as if the link
bearers steadily patrolled the garden.

Twenty minutes passed, and then the whole party issued forth again upon
the down; and Sir Daniel and the baron, after an elaborate salutation,
separated and turned severally homeward, each with his own following of
men and lights.

As soon as the sound of their steps had been swallowed by the wind, Dick
got to his feet as briskly as he was able, for he was stiff and aching
with the cold.

"Capper, ye will give me a back up," he said.

They advanced, all three, to the wall; Capper stooped, and Dick, getting
upon his shoulders, clambered on to the cope-stone.

"Now, Greensheve," whispered Dick, "follow me up here; lie flat upon your
face, that ye may be the less seen; and be ever ready to give me a hand
if I fall foully on the other side."

And so saying he dropped into the garden.

It was all pitch dark; there was no light in the house. The wind
whistled shrill among the poor shrubs, and the surf beat upon the beach;
there was no other sound. Cautiously Dick footed it forth, stumbling
among bushes, and groping with his hands; and presently the crisp noise
of gravel underfoot told him that he had struck upon an alley.

Here he paused, and taking his crossbow from where he kept it concealed
under his long tabard, he prepared it for instant action, and went
forward once more with greater resolution and assurance. The path led
him straight to the group of buildings.

All seemed to be sorely dilapidated: the windows of the house were
secured by crazy shutters; the stables were open and empty; there was no
hay in the hay-loft, no corn in the corn-box. Any one would have
supposed the place to be deserted. But Dick had good reason to think
otherwise. He continued his inspection, visiting the offices, trying all
the windows. At length he came round to the sea-side of the house, and
there, sure enough, there burned a pale light in one of the upper
windows.

He stepped back a little way, till he thought he could see the movement
of a shadow on the wall of the apartment. Then he remembered that, in
the stable, his groping hand had rested for a moment on a ladder, and he
returned with all despatch to bring it. The ladder was very short, but
yet, by standing on the topmost round, he could bring his hands as high
as the iron bars of the window; and seizing these, he raised his body by
main force until his eyes commanded the interior of the room.