l that he
had seen, all that he had learned, and the sum of it was that Sir
Christopher had been shipped abroad upon the _Great Yarmouth_, sorely
wounded but not dead, and that with him had sailed Jeffrey Stokes and
the monk Martin.

"That's ten months gone," said Cicely. "Has naught been heard of this
ship? By now she should be home again."

Thomas hesitated, then answered--

"No tidings came of her from Spain. Then, although I said nothing of it
even to Emlyn, she was reported lost with all hands at sea. Then came
another story----"

"Ah! that other story?"

"Lady, two of her crew reached the Wash. I did not see them, and they
have shipped again for Marseilles in France. But I spoke with a shepherd
who is half-brother to one of them, and he told me that from him he
learned that the _Great Yarmouth_ was set upon by two Turkish pirates
and captured after a brave fight in which the captain Goody and others
were killed. This man and his comrade escaped in a boat and drifted
to and fro till they were picked up by a homeward-bound caravel which
landed them at Hull. That's all I know--save one thing."

"One thing! Oh, what thing, Thomas? That my husband is dead?"

"Nay, nay, the very opposite, that he is alive, or was, for these men
saw him and Jeffrey Stokes and Martin the priest, no craven as I know,
fighting like devils till the Turks overwhelmed them by numbers, and,
having bound their hands, carried them all three unwounded on board one
of their ships, wishing doubtless to make slaves of such brave fellows."

Now, although Emlyn would have stopped her, still Cicely plied him with
questions, which he answered as best he could, till suddenly a sound
caught his ear.

"Look at the window!" he exclaimed.

They looked, and saw a sight that froze their blood, for there staring
at them through the glass was the dark face of the Abbot, and with it
other faces.

"Betray me not, or I shall burn," he whispered. "Say only that I came
to haunt you," and silently as a shadow he glided to his niche and was
gone.

"What now, Emlyn?"

"One thing only--Thomas must be saved. A bold face and stand to it. Is
it our fault if your father's ghost should haunt this chapel? Remember,
your father's ghost, no other. Ah! here they come."

As she spoke the door was thrown wide, and through it came the Abbot
and his rout of attendants. Within two paces of the women they halted,
hanging together like bees, for they were afraid, while