"Nay, it was not I but the doorg you have to thank, Dolly, it was he that brought me here, or you might have lain on the wet heath till the day of judgment. But why did you not come to the house--were you afraid that I should turn you away from my door?"
"I was on my way home, father, but something dreadful happened to me last night. Oh, so dreadful, that only to think of it makes my flesh creep." She clung to the old man, and shivered in every limb.
"Speak out, lass. What was it? What ails thee? Did any one insult thee?"
"No, no, it was not flesh and blood." Lowering her voice, and casting a timid glance around, she whispered in his ear, as if afraid of speaking it out. "I saw last night the ghost of my mother."
"Lord a mercy!" cried the farmer, springing to his feet, with the elasticity of a young man, and gazing upon Dorothy with a wild horror gleaming in his eyes. "Were you in your right mind. What did a' look like?"
"A shadow--a thin vapoury form, through which I saw the moon shining."
"But how didst thou know the mother? Did it speak?"
"A low wailing, sobbing cry passed along the ground, and shook the bushes It was like nothing human--so sad and wild. Pincher crept to my feet and howled back an answer."
"Aye, doorgs be wise--they see what we can't see--and what then, lass?"
"A mortal fear came over me. I tried to run but fell. I remember nothing after that, until you woke me up just now."
"It wor strange," mused the old man. "I never did wholly believe in ghosts, but you are not the girl to tell a lie. You might have been mistaken--but I would bet ten to one on the doorg. And how do you feel, Dolly, arter lying so long in the dews?"
"Stiff and cold," said Dorothy, her teeth chattering in her head, and a deeper pallor settling on her face. "I shall soon get over that, when I am once more at home."
"And what brought thee out so late last night, child. Worn't thee afeard of passing over the lonesome heath?"
"Father, I had been told a sad story--had been vexed by a cruel and false accusation against my character; and I could not remain where I was, and put up with their insults, or rest until I heard the truth of what they told me from your own lips." She stopped for a minute to gather courage to ask the dreadful question. "Has Gilbert enlisted for a soldier and gone to the wars?"