The searching party fled in panic and dismay out of the barn, and nothing could have persuaded them to have set foot in those haunted walls again, no, not even the threats of the redoubtable Captain William Broome himself. What the outcome would have been had the captain been on hand, it is difficult to say, for it was commonly supposed that he was in fear of nothing. "Well, what did I tell you, Jack?" questioned Jim smiling grimly. "There was something on hand sure enough." "What under the canopy was that thing doing?" exclaimed John Berwick. "It gave me the creeps, and that is a sensation that does not bother me very much these days." "That was the story of a haunted house," replied Jim, "but it is safe enough now since our friends, the enemy, have fled. Let us go out and see for ourselves if you aren't too timid." "Anybody who survives the excitement of following your fortunes for a few weeks cannot be very timid," replied Berwick candidly. Jim grinned, but made no reply, and in a few moments they emerged from the hay into the dusk of the loft. For a few seconds they made out nothing, and then from the deeper shadow a dim figure took shape, and advanced towards them. Jim was the nearest to her, and Berwick was very well pleased that this was so. Jim showed no uneasiness. "Thank you for driving them away," he said quietly, peering down at the strange face that looked up at him from its hooded gray, and then she laughed at him with insane mirth. It would have done severe damage to less hardy nerves than those which our "hero" possessed. Jim regarded her with unwavering kindness, which seemed to reach through the gray cloud of her unhappy condition, much as the clear sun penetrates the mist. "The old devil has gone," she volunteered. "Ah, the captain," said Jim to Berwick quietly. "She could mean no other," agreed his friend. "Perhaps we had better follow his example." "And the young lady?" questioned Jim. There was a nod of the head, and even while they were speaking, the woman had faded back into the shadows. They did not disturb her, for it would be to no purpose. "How had we better get out of here, that is the question," continued Berwick. "I thought we might go out the back way," remarked Jim. "How, jump?" inquired Berwick, who remembered the cliff, one hundred feet sheer descent, that bounded the precincts of the castle, except that shut in by the iron fence. "It won't be hard," said Jim, "if we can find a rope around here, and I think we can." "If we do, we will keep enough to hang the captain with," said Berwick grimly. "There's a souvenir hanging from the chimney," said Jim with a grin. "Better leave that for Santa Claus," remarked the engineer thoughtfully. "Santa Claus doesn't come to California," replied James; "they don't have Christmas weather here." "Get lost in the fog, that's a fact," remarked Berwick. "Come," cried Jim, "let us find some rope."