英语小说网

"Then perhaps he thought it was better not to come."

"Yes, perhaps. Or he may be here all the time, hiding behind the Devil's Door. Let's go and see -- and surprise him!"

"Perhaps he's lying very quietly in the grass there, because of you," she said, smiling.

"Nor is that probable."

The Duke said quickly, "Oh, he probably has some other meeting to go to."

"I tell you, he did not think it was worth coming again!" the Duke said, reluctant to walk further. "He is not here, so turn round and come home."

"Or perhaps he has found it too far to come."

"Oh, he's not there."

"He doesn't seem to be here, it's true. Perhaps something has happened to him? Oh poor Fred! I do hope he is all right!"

"I don't think so."

The next night Bill Mills was left alone again to take care of the sheep. He tried bravely not to think of what lay behind the Devil's Door, but without much success. So he was almost pleased as well as surprised when the Duke and Duchess appeared near the hut at about eleven o'clock. He watched and listened through the little window in his hut.

"Oh, no -- not because of me!"

"Ah, I see him at last!" she said.

"By the Devil's Door. Don't you see him?" She laughed. "Ah, my poor lover-cousin, you'll be in trouble now!"

"See him!" cried the Duke. "Where?"

"It's not him!" said the Duke in horror. "It can't be him!"

"No, it isn't. It's too small for him. It's a boy."

"I'll come! I'll come! Say no more, Harriet!" And together they crossed the grass towards the stones.

The boy came out of the hut to see what happened next, but the Duchess saw him moving in the darkness.

Fearfully, young Bill came closer.

"Come, then. Dearest, you're as reluctant as a schoolboy tonight! I know you're jealous of poor Fred, but you have no reason to be!"

"Ah, you know me! Do you keep sheep here every night?"

"Taking care of the sheep, your Grace."

"What are you doing here?" asked the Duke.

"Most nights in winter, your Grace."

"Ah, I thought so! Boy, come here."

"And what have you seen here tonight or last night?" asked the Duchess. "Anyone waiting or walking about?"

The boy was silent.

"He has seen nothing," said her husband quickly, staring angrily at the boy. "Come, let us go. The air is cold."

"I ask you again," said the Duke, holding the boy's shoulder with a strong hand and staring down into his frightened face. "Did you see anything strange here last night?"

When they had gone, young Bill went back to the sheep. But he was not alone for long. Half an hour later the Duke's heavy steps were heard again. His wife was not with him.

"Listen, boy," he said. "The Duchess asked you a question, and I want you to answer it. Have you seen anything strange these nights, when you've been watching your sheep?"

"Oh, your Grace, don't kill me!" cried the boy, falling to the ground. "I've never seen you walking here, or riding here, or waiting for a man, or pulling a dead body along!"

"Your Grace, I'm just a poor, stupid boy, and what I see, I don't remember."

"Ah!" said the Duke coldly. "It is good to know that you have never seen those things. Now, which do you prefer -- to see me do those things now, or to keep a secret all your life?"

"Oh, try me, your Grace!"

"Keep a secret, your Grace!"

"I'll give you new clothes, and send you to school, and make a man of you. But you must never say you've been a shepherd boy. The moment that you forget yourself, and speak of what you've seen on the hills -- this year, next year, or twenty years from now -- I will stop helping you, and you'll come down to being a poor shepherd again."

"Very well. And now, do you like being a shepherd?"

"You are sure you can do it?"

His face as white as a sheet, the boy promised.

"Not at all. This lonely work for a boy like me, who sees ghosts everywhere. And my master sometimes beats me."

"I'll never speak of it, your Grace!"

"Come here." The Duke took the boy to the Devil's Door. "Now make a promise in front of these ancient stones. The ghosts that live in this place will find you and punish you if you ever speak of your life as a shepherd boy or what you saw then. Promise to keep this secret!"

Then they went down into the valley, the Duke holding the boy's hand. That night the boy slept at Shakeforest Towers, and the next day he was sent away to school.