They slipped down the dark stairs and through the deserted halls, and reached the back door, where, under the shelter of a large hemlock-tree, Captain Pendleton held the horses. It was dark as pitch, and drizzling rain. They could see nothing, they could only know the whereabouts of their "friend in need," and their horses, by hearing Captain Pendleton's voice speaking through the mist in cautious tones, and whispering: "Lock the door after you, Berners, so as to secure us from intrusion from within. And then stop there under the porch until I come and talk to you." Mr. Berners did as he was requested to do, and then stood waiting for his friend, who soon came up. "You have got all you will need on your journey, have you not?" inquired the Captain. Mr. Berners replied by telling his friend exactly what he had brought. "All that is very well, but people require to eat and drink once in a while. So I have put some sandwiches, and a bottle of wine from the supper-table, into your saddle-bags. And now, in the hurry, have you decided upon your route?" "Yes; we shall endeavor to reach the nearest seaport, Norfolk probably, and embark for some foreign country, no matter what, for in no place but in a foreign country can my unhappy wife hope for safety," mournfully replied Lyon Berners. "Endeavor to reach Norfolk! That will never succeed. You will be sure to be overtaken and brought back before you go a score of miles on that road," declared Captain Pendleton, shaking his head. "Then, in the name of Heaven, what _will_ do?" demanded Mr. Berners, in a tone of desperation. "You must find a place of concealment, and then take time to disguise yourself and your wife, so that neither of you can be recognized, before you venture upon the road to Norfolk. You see, Lyon, you are the better lawyer, but I am the better strategist! I graduated among the warpaths and the ambushes of the Redskins on the frontier." "But where shall I find such a place of concealment?" "I have thought of that." "You think of everything." "Ah! it is easy to show presence of mind in other people's confusion! Almost as easy at it is to bear other people's troubles!" said the Captain, attempting a jest, only to raise his friend's drooping spirits. "But now to the point, for we must be quick. You know the 'Haunted Chapel?'" "The old ruined church in the cleft on the other side of the Black Mountain?" "Yes; that is the place. Its deep solitude and total abandonment, with its ghostly reputation, will be sure to secure your safety. Go there; conceal yourselves and your horses as well as you can. In the course of to-morrow, or to-morrow night, I will come to you with such news and such help as I may be able to bring." "Thank you. Oh, thank you. But what are words? You are a man of deeds. Your presence of mind has saved us both!" said Lyon Berners earnestly.