father, whose visits were frequently of long duration, had of late
ceased altogether to speak of their contemplated departure for France,
grew angry at any allusion to it, and they feared, had abandoned the
plan altogether.



CHAPTER IV


The Light in the Bell Tower

Shortly after the discontinuance of the priest's visits, old Laurence,
one night, to his surprise, saw light issuing from a window in the Bell
Tower. It was at first only a tremulous red ray, visible only for a few
minutes, which seemed to pass from the room, through whose window it
escaped upon the courtyard of the castle, and so to lose itself. This
tower and casement were in the angle of the building, exactly
confronting that in which the little outlawed family had taken up their
quarters.

The whole family were troubled at the appearance of this dull red ray
from the chamber in the Bell Tower. Nobody knew what to make of it. But
Laurence, who had campaigned in Italy with his old master, the young
ladies' grandfather--"the heavens be his bed this night!"--was resolved
to see it out, and took his great horse-pistols with him, and ascended
to the corridor leading to the tower. But his search was vain.

This light left a sense of great uneasiness among the inmates, and most
certainly it was not pleasant to suspect the establishment of an