“I know all that, dad,” persisted the girl; “but I’m interested in this extraordinary story of the Whispers.  You, as an antiquary, have, no doubt, investigated all the legendary lore connected with Glencardine.  The people declare that the Whispers are heard, and, I am told, believe some extraordinary theory regarding them.”

“A theory!” he exclaimed quickly.  “What theory?  What has been discovered?”

“Nothing, as far as I know.”

“No, and nothing ever will be discovered,” he said.

“Why not, dad?” she asked.  “Do you deny that strange noises are heard there when there is so much evidence in the affirmative?”

“I really don’t know, my dear.  I’ve never had the pleasure of hearing them myself, though I’ve been told of them ever since I bought the place.”

“But there is a legend which is supposed to account for them, is there not, dad?  Do tell me what you know,” she urged.  “I’m so very much interested in the old place and its bygone history.”

“The less you know concerning the Whispers the better, my dear,” he replied abruptly.

Her father’s ominous words surprised her.  Did he, too, believe in the fatal omen, though he was trying to mislead her and poke fun at the local superstition?

“But why shouldn’t I know?” she protested.  “This is the first time, dad, that you’ve tried to withhold from me any antiquarian knowledge that you possess.  Besides, the story of Glencardine and its lords is intensely fascinating to me.”

“So might be the Whispers, if ever you had the misfortune to hear them.”

“Misfortune!” she gasped, turning pale.  “Why do you say misfortune?”

But he laughed a strange, hollow laugh, and, endeavouring to turn his seriousness into humour, said, “Well, they might give you a turn, perhaps.  They would make me start, I feel sure.  From what I’ve been told, they seem to come from nowhere.  It is practically an unseen spectre who has the rather unusual gift of speech.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to explain how, on the previous night, she had actually listened to the Whispers.  But she refrained.  She recognised that, though he would not admit it, he was nevertheless superstitious of ill results following the hearing of those weird whisperings.  So she made eager pretence of wishing to know the historical facts of the incident referred to by the gamekeeper.

“No,” exclaimed the blind man softly but firmly, taking her hand and stroking her arm tenderly, as was his habit when he wished to persuade her.  “No, Gabrielle dear,” he said; “we will change the subject now.  Do not bother your head about absurd country legends of that sort.  There are so many concerning Glencardine and its lords that a whole volume might be filled with them.”

“But I want to know all about this particular one, dad,” she said.

“From me you will never know, my dear,” was his answer, as his gray, serious face was upturned to hers.  “You have never heard the Whispers, and I sincerely hope that you never will.”