ith pain. Nor
was her voice a guide to him, for she spoke her simple question without
significance,--

"Must we wait, then, till the morning?"

"There is a chance that they may come before the morning. I will watch
on the top stair, and if they come I will make bold to wake your
Highness."

Their hostess upon this brought their supper into the room, and Wogan
became at once aware of a change in her demeanour. She no longer
embarrassed them with her patronage, nor did she continue her sly
allusions to the escapades of lovers. On the contrary, she was of an
extreme deference. Under the deference, too, Wogan seemed to remark a
certain excitement.

"Have you other lodgers to-night?" he asked carelessly.

"No, sir," said she. "Travellers are taken by a big house and a bustle
of servants. They stay at the Vapore Inn when they stay at Peri, and to
their cost."

As soon as she had left the room Wogan asked of Clementina,--

"When did her manner change?"

"I had not remarked the change till now," replied Clementina.

Wogan became uneasy. He went down into the courtyard, and found it
empty. There was a light in the kitchen, and he entered the room. The
landlady was having her supper in company with her few servants, and
there were one or two peasants from the village. Wogan chatted with them
for a few minutes and came out again much relieved of his fears. He
thought, however, it might be as well to see that his pony was ready for
an emergency. He crossed silently to the stable, which he found dark as
the courtyard. The door was latched, but not locked. He opened it and
went in. The building was long, with many stalls ranged side by side.
Wogan's pony stood in the end stall opposite to the door. Wogan took
down the harness from the pegs and began to fix it ready on the pony. He
had just put the collar over its head when he heard a horse stamping in
one of the stalls at the other end of the stables. Now he had noticed in
the morning that there were only two horses in the building, and those
two were tied up in the stalls next to that which his pony occupied. He
walked along the range of stalls. The two horses were there, then came a
gap of empty stalls, and beyond the gap he counted six other horses.
Wogan became at once curious about those six other horses. They might of
course be farm-horses, but he wished to know. It was quite dark within
the building; he had only counted the horses by the noise of their
movements in