At all times Esther had a fear of underground places. She had never done more than just peep into a cave before this; and now she was going down, down, down into the very heart of the earth--into that terrible place the boys had told her of, where all sorts of unthinkable horrors were practised, or had been in bygone days, and where, for all she knew, skeletons were still pickling in great tanks. She dared not even think of anything more.

They entered the cave through a sort of trap-door communicating with the house above. The boys were delighted to go by this way. Mr. Earle was there, moving about like a gnome in the gloom; and the voices of the boys, as they cried out their questions, and exclaimed over the strange things they saw, sounded hollow and strange, and went echoing away down the vaulted pa.s.sages, as though taken up and repeated by half a hundred unseen demons.

The air of the place seemed oppressive and difficult to breathe. The sullen booming of the sea beneath added to the awfulness of the darkness and the horror. Esther threw a few scared glances round her, and felt as though everything was swimming in a mist before her eyes. It seemed as though a cold hand was grasping at her throat, hindering her breath and numbing her limbs.

She knew that she was being walked about from place to place, but she could see nothing and hear nothing plainly. The boys were making the place ring with their shouts and strange calls, and it seemed to her as though the cave were full of dancing forms, and as though she could not breathe any longer.

Then all of a sudden it seemed to get quite dark. The sound of voices died away in her ears. She thought she was left alone in this awful place; perhaps she had been put into one of the tanks. She was suffocating, and could hear nothing but the wild beating of her own heart; and then even that seemed to stop, and she remembered nothing more.

When she opened her eyes again the sun was shining, and it was all warm and bright round her, and somebody had fast hold of her, and was making her feel so comfortable and restful that she did not want to move.

She could not think where she was, but it was certainly out of doors.

The wind fanned her brow, and she could see the sky and the sea and a bit of waving fern or tree.

Then there was the sound of a step close by, and suddenly Mr. Earle loomed into view, carrying a gla.s.s in his hand, and when his eyes met hers he smiled and said,--

"Ah, that is better!"

And then Esther felt herself lifted up, and saw that it was Mr. Trelawny who was holding her so comfortably. He was sitting on the ground, and she was on his knee, resting against his broad shoulder; and now he bent and looked into her face with a smile, and said,--

"So, so, my little girl; that is better, that is better. Now drink what Mr. Earle has brought you, and you will feel yourself again."

Esther held out her hand obediently, but it shook so much that Mr. Earle would not give the gla.s.s into her hand, but knelt down on one knee and held it to her lips. It was not nice medicine at all, and it made her choke and cough when she had swallowed it, but it seemed to warm her all through; and when she had finished the draught she felt able to lift up her head, though it was rather appalling to find herself alone out on the hillside, with only Mr. Trelawny and Mr. Earle beside her.

She remembered everything now--the terrible cave, the strange sights and sounds there, and that feeling of giddiness and weakness which had come over her. She sat up and looked round her, and then she shivered again a little, for just behind them was a dark gap which she knew must lead into the cave. Were they going to take her back into it again?

Mr. Earle had hold of her hand, and his finger was on the little wrist.

He looked into her face with a smile, and asked,--

"What is the matter now?"

"Nothing, thank you, sir."

"You are frightened," he said quietly. "Were you afraid of the darkness in there just now?"

"I--I don"t know if it was the darkness exactly. I think it was everything." She made another little movement, and then added wistfully, "Please, may I go home?"

"No hurry," said Mr. Trelawny"s big voice just in her ear. "We will go back to my house first, and see what all this means."

And then Esther felt herself lifted bodily in those great, strong arms, and carried baby-fashion up the steep pathway towards the house on the top of the crag.

"O Mr. Trelawny, I"m too heavy to be carried!" she cried.

"You"re not half as heavy as you should be. I must know about that too.

We"ve got you a prisoner between us, my little maid, and we shall not let you go till we"ve----"

Mr. Trelawny stopped suddenly, because Mr. Earle had begun to speak to him in the strange language Esther had heard him use upon another occasion. She shut her eyes tightly, and tried to be brave; but if only she might have gone home by herself! The Crag was a very terrible place to come to.

Even the boys seemed to have disappeared. There was no sign of them about the great, quiet house. Mr. Trelawny carried her into the drawing-room, which did not look as though it were often used, though it was bright and sunny; and he laid her down upon a wide sofa, and took a chair close to her. Mr. Earle stood a little way off, looking out of the window.

If Esther had had the courage to look into the face above her, she would have seen that it was full of a very kindly concern and interest, but she dared not raise her eyes. She felt like a prisoner awaiting sentence, and only wondered whether she would ever be free to run home again.

"Now tell me, child," said Mr. Trelawny"s big voice, "what is the matter with my little friend?"

"Nothing, thank you, sir."

"Can"t you call me Uncle Robert, like that pair of urchins, who are no kith or kin of mine, though you are? Esther, I was very fond of your father. Won"t you try to be a little fond of me? I will be your friend, if you will let me."

She looked up at him then, and her heart beat fast. It was all so very strange and unexpected. She did not know what to say; but she put out her hand and laid it on his, and he smiled and patted it, and said,--

"There, that is better. Now tell me about these headaches of yours. We ought to find a cure for them. Has Mr. Earle been working you too hard?"

Esther felt a thrill run through her again. How was it he knew anything about her headaches? She had not even told her mother, and it never occurred to her that the boys could have spoken the word. Yet, to be sure, once or twice lately she had not cared to join their games because her head ached so badly towards evening. But it was not the lessons.

They must not think that. Her lessons were the great pleasure of her life.

"Oh no, no!" she answered earnestly; "indeed it is not that. Please, don"t stop the lessons. I do like them so very much."

Mr. Earle came forward then, smiling and saying,--

"I don"t want to lose my pupil either, but health comes before pleasure--even before learning."

"I"m sure it isn"t the lessons," said Esther again. "Sometimes I think perhaps it"s my hair. It makes my head so hot, and at night I can"t always sleep."

Mr. Trelawny lifted the heavy ma.s.s of curly locks and weighed it in his hand. He looked at Mr. Earle, and they spoke a few words together in the strange tongue.

"Did you ever complain to your mother about your hair?" asked Mr.

Trelawny, with a gleam in his deepset eyes.

"Yes," answered Esther, "I often used to ask her if I mightn"t have it short like Milly Polperran; but she doesn"t like me to tease about it, so I"ve given it up."

Mr. Trelawny reached out his hand towards a table upon which lay a pair of sharp scissors in a sheath. The gleam in his eyes was deepening. Mr.

Earle said something in the foreign tongue, and he answered back in his sharp, decisive way. Esther lay still, wondering; but they were both behind her, and she could not see.

Then came a strange, grating sound close to her head, another, and another; and before she realized what was happening, Mr. Trelawny suddenly laid upon her lap a great ma.s.s of waving chestnut hair, exclaiming as he did so,--

"There, my dear! take that home to your mother with my best compliments; and as for me, I shall have to find a new name for little Goldylocks."

Then Esther realized that her hair had been cut off by Mr. Trelawny, and she lay looking at it with thrills of excitement running through her.

What would her mother say when she got home? and what would it feel like to be relieved of that great floating ma.s.s of hair? How delightful to have no tugging and pulling at the knots morning and night, often when her head was aching and tender, and every pull seemed to hurt more than the last! She must get up and feel what it was like.

So she sat up and pa.s.sed her hands over her head. Mr. Trelawny and Mr.

Earle were looking at her and laughing. Esther had to laugh too; but how light and cool it felt!

"It is nice!" she exclaimed. "I feel as if I"d got a new head! Oh. I hope mama will not mind much!"

"Look here, sir," said Mr. Earle; "you"re not as good a barber as a lady had a right to expect. Give me the scissors, and let me put a more artistic finish to your work. We must send her home looking less like a hearth broom than she does at the present moment."

They all laughed again at that, and the color began to come back into Esther"s cheeks. This was something rather exciting, and it had driven away her fears for the time being. She sat quite still whilst Mr. Earle snipped and cut, and walked round and round her, and quarreled with Mr.

Trelawny about the proper way of tr.i.m.m.i.n.g a lady"s hair; and in the end they put her upon the sofa, and told her to look at herself in the great mirror opposite. When she did this she began to laugh out loud.