Her wandering gaze had fastened on old Peter Leveret, and she regarded him with looks of horror. And no wonder, for old Peter was hump-backed and deformed, and had a countenance so wicked it resembled that of a brute more than a human being. A shock of bristly, unkempt red hair surmounted his visage, and his straggling beard was of the same fiery hue. He leered maliciously at her looks of terror. "Pshaw! that is only my old man, miss," said Haidee, shortly. "You need not put on so many airs at sight of him, for I do assure you that if he had not pulled old Nero off you just in the very nick of time, the hound would have torn you to pieces long before this." "I thank you," said Lily, timidly, forcing herself to look gently at the repulsive old creature. "Oh, where did the dreadful dog come from?" "We keeps it chained up all day in the garden, and at night we lets him loose to purwent you from escaping, miss," answered old Peter, doggedly. "Strange that I never heard him before," mused Lily, reflectively. "He never had occasion to make himself heard before," said Haidee, grimly. Lily shuddered and remained silent. "Pray, miss," said old Peter, who had been examining the window curiously, "how did you get the iron bar out of this here window? You don't look strong enough to have wrenched it out." "The woodwork was rotten," she answered, quietly. "I pulled the bar out at the first effort." "Peter," said old Haidee, "go into the third room from this and see if the bars are strong in that window." Old Peter hobbled out on his errand, and Haidee said, shortly: "I did not think you would try to give us the slip, miss, or I would have warned you long ago about old Nero. There is no use trying to escape from here--you are as secure in this house as if you were in your grave. Grave perils await you the moment you step over this threshold. Old Nero was but a foretaste of what you may meet with, so I advise you to marry Mr. Colville, and content yourself." "I will never, never marry him, Haidee," said the young girl, sadly, yet dauntlessly. "And you need not try to frighten me from trying to escape, for I shall use every endeavor to that end. I can but die, and death is preferable to what I must endure in this house." She lay back and closed her eyes wearily. Peter Leveret entered and reported the bars as strong and tight in the third room. "You may sit here by the patient, then, while I go and prepare that room for her reception," said his wife. "You will not put her in _that_ room," said Peter, with vague surprise and doubt. "Yes, in that very room--there is no other where the windows are barred. She must occupy that until we can get this window fixed. Nothing will hurt her. I dare say she is not afraid of ghosts," said Haidee, grimly, as she passed out.