mily to her daughters, which was
listened to with dutiful attention. But Kate's bright eyes were
often bent upon the casement of one window, the curtain of which
she had drawn back with her own hand before sitting down; and as
the moon rose brighter and brighter in the sky and bathed the world
without in its clear white beams, she seemed to grow a little
restless, and tapped the floor with the point of her dainty shoe.

Kate Trevlyn was a veritable sprite for her love of the open air,
by night as well as day, in winter cold as well as summer heat.
"The night bird" was one of her father's playful names for her, and
if ever she was able to slip away on a fine night, nothing
delighted her more than to wander about in the park and the woods,
listening to the cries of the owls and night jars, watching the
erratic flight of the bats, and admiring the grand beauty of the
sleeping world as it lay beneath the rays of the peaceful moon.

As the reading ceased, a step on the terrace without told Kate that
Philip was out for an evening stroll. Gliding from the room with
her swift undulating motion, and quickly donning cloak and clogs,
she slipped after him and joined him before he had got many yards
from the house.

"Take me with thee, Philip," she said. "It is a lovely night for a
stroll. I should love to visit the chantry; it looks most witching
at this hour of the night."

They took the path that led thither. The great clock in the tower
had boomed the hour of eight some time since. The moon had shaken
itself free from the veil of cloud, and was sailing majestically in
the sky. As they descended the path, Kate suddenly laid her hand on
her brother's arm, and whispered:

"Hist! Methinks I hear the sound of steps. Surely there is some one
approaching us from below!"

Philip paused and listened. Yes, Kate's quick ears had not deceived
her. There was the sound of a footstep advancing towards them along
the lonely tangled path. Philip instinctively felt for the pistol
he always carried in his belt, for there were often doubtful and
sometimes desperate men in hiding in woods and lonely places; but
before he had time to do more than feel if the weapon were safe,
Kate had darted suddenly from his side, and was speeding down the
path.

"Marry but it is Cuthbert!" she called back to him as he bid her
stop, and Philip himself started forward to meet and greet the
newcomer.

"We have been talking of you and wondering how it fare