“You have won this time, O Watcher-by-Night,” whispered Harut softly, “but another time you will lose.  That beautiful lady belongs to us and the People of the White Kendah, for she is marked with the holy mark of the young moon.  The call of the Child of Heaven is heard in her heart, and will bring her home to the Child as it has brought her to us to-night.  Now lead her hence still sleeping, O brave and clever one, so well named Watcher-by-Night.”

Then they were gone and presently I heard the sound of horses being driven rapidly along the drive.

For a moment I hesitated as to whether I would or would not run in and shoot those horses.  Two considerations stayed me.  The first was that if I did so my pistol would be empty, or even if I shot one horse and retained a barrel loaded, with it I could only kill a single man, leaving myself defenceless against the knife of the other.  The second consideration was that now as before I did not wish to wake up Miss Holmes.

I crept to her and not knowing what else to do, took hold of one of her outstretched hands.  She turned and came with me at once as though she knew me, remaining all the while fast asleep.  Thus we went back to the house, through the still open door, up the stairway straight to her own room, on the threshold of which I loosed her hand.  The room was dark and I could see nothing, but I listened until I heard a sound as of a person throwing herself upon the bed and drawing up the blankets.  Then knowing that she was safe for a while, I shut the door, which opened outwards as doors of ancient make sometimes do, and set against it a little table that stood in the passage.

Next, after reflecting for a minute, the circumstances being awkward in many ways, I went to my room and lit a candle.  Obviously it was my duty to inform Lord Ragnall of what had happened and that as soon as possible.  But I had no idea in what part of that huge building his sleeping place might be, nor, for patent reasons, was it desirable that I should disturb the house and so create talk.  In this dilemma I remembered that Lord Ragnall’s confidential servant, Mr. Savage, when he conducted me to my room on the previous night, which he made a point of doing perhaps because he wished to talk over the matter of the snakes that had found their way into his pockets, had shown me a bell in it which he said rang outside his door.  He called it an “emergency bell.”  I remarked idly that it was improbable that I should have any occasion for its use.

“Who knows, sir?” said Mr. Savage prophetically.  “There are folk who say that this old castle is haunted, which after what I have seen to-night I can well believe.  If you should chance to meet a ghost looking, let us say, like those black villains, Harum and Scarum, or whatever they call themselves—­well, sir, two’s better company than one.”

I considered that bell but was loath to ring it for the reasons I have given.  Then I went outside the room and looked.  As I had hoped might be the case, there ran the wire on the face of the wall connected along its length by other wires with the various rooms it passed.