She was surprised, indeed, but thinking only of her dog, she called again, and was perfectly amazed at the long, hollow, and deep sound, of the reverberation.  She stood still again, holding the bushes aside, and was aware of a rush of damp vapour, blowing in her face.

Sappho, she called again, and the next minute heard an impatient bark, or yelp, from the animal, and another sound, low, deep and muttering, which she could not comprehend.

She was now getting much alarmed and dropping the boughs, took to flight, and she had scarcely cleared the rubbish, when Sappho came scouring after her, jumping upon her as if glad to see her again.  She patted her head, saying “My poor Sappho, what have you seen in that dark place?  I wish you had a tongue to tell me.”

Tamar immediately returned to the Tower, and hastened to tell her adventure to Mrs. Margaret.

“Oh!” said the old lady, “is it so? that reminds me of what I heard my father say, many and many is the year gone by, that there was an old tradition of a secret passage underground from the Monastery to the Tower; but he never knew where the passage came into the Tower.  But be it which way it might, it must needs have passed under the moat.”

“How strange!” said Tamar; “but when that passage was made, it could not have been secret; many people must have known it, and I wonder, then, how it could have been so entirely forgotten.”

“Who shall say how things were done in those days,” said Mrs. Margaret; “those times long past, when things uncanny had more power than they have now?  But it is not good to talk of such things,” added the lady; “and now, Tamar, let that which you have seen to-day never again be mentioned by you; for, as sure as the master should hear of it, he would be for looking into the cavern, and, Heaven knows what he might stir up, if he were to disturb such things as might be found there.  I only wish that that the mischief may not be already done!”

But no mischief did occur, at least for a long time, from this mysterious quarter.  Tamar did not again visit the place; and in a short time thought no more of the matter.

The happy days of childhood were passing away with Tamar, and sorrow was coming on her patrons, from a quarter which poor Mrs. Margaret had long darkly anticipated; but whilst these heavy clouds were hanging over the house of Dymock, a few, though not very important events intervened.

Mr. Dymock, by fits and snatches, had given such lessons to Tamar as had enabled her to proceed, by her own exertions, in several branches of knowledge quite out of the sphere of Mrs. Margaret.

Amongst these was the history of the Jews, carried on in connection between the New and Old Testament, and afterwards in Christian times, and to these he added certain crude views of prophecy; for he was resolved that Tamar was a Jewess, and he had talked himself into the belief that she was of some distinguished family.