e, this Castle,--wi' thick
doors, and great locks, and bars. But I have seen those doors broke'
down,--those great locks, and bars burst asunder,--but--there is none
can do this but him as bears the Tiger-Mark. So much for the first. And,
for the second,--Happiness shall come a riding to you on the full
moon,--but you must reach up--and take it for yourself,--if you be
tall enough."

"And--even you are not tall enough to do that, Mr. Bellew!" laughed
Anthea, as she rose to bid Old Nannie "Good-night," while Bellew,
unnoticed, slipped certain coins upon a corner of the chimney-piece. So,
old Nannie blessed them, and theirs,--past, present, and future,
thoroughly and completely, with a fine comprehensiveness that only a
genuinely accomplished old witch might hope to attain to, and, following
them to the door, paused there with one shrivelled, claw-like hand
up-lifted towards the sky:

"At the full o' the moon, tall sir!" she repeated, "at the full o' the
moon! As for you, my dark-eyed lady, I say, by force you shall be wooed,
and by force ye shall be wed, aye! aye!--but there is no man strong
enough except he have the Tiger-Mark upon him. Old Nannie knows,--she's
seen it in the ink, dreamed it in the fire, and read it all in your
pretty hand. And now--thank ye for the tea, my pretty, and God bless ye
for the good weed, and just so sure as you've been good, and kind to old
Nannie, so shall Fortune be good and kind to you, Miss Anthea."

"Poor old Nannie!" said Anthea, as they went on down the grassy lane,
"she is so very grateful for so little. And she is such a gentle old
creature really, though the country folk do call her a witch and are
afraid of her because they say she has the 'evil eye,'--which is
ridiculous, of course! But nobody ever goes near her, and she is
dreadfully lonely, poor old thing!"

"And so that is why you come to sit with her, and let her talk to you?"
enquired Bellew, staring up at the moon.

"Yes."

"And do you believe in her dreams, and visions?"

"No,--of course not!" answered Anthea, rather hurriedly, and with a
deeper colour in her cheeks, though Bellew was still intent upon the
moon. "You don't either,--do you?" she enquired, seeing he was silent.

"Well, I don't quite know," he answered slowly, "but she is rather a
wonderful old lady, I think."

"Yes, she has wonderful thick hair still," nodded Anthea, "and she's not
a bit deaf, and her eyes are as clear, and sharp as ever they wer