"I can't tell you Bess. If I knew I should tell. But I don't. On that night I came here, looking for things---" said Sidney with a side-glance to see if she were laughing, "and although I felt that there was a bad influence about the house, I never went near it. I kept away and wandered on to the moor. That is why you missed me, when you came to look for me. I did not mind the rain. But I saw your lantern, and thought you would be anxious, so I returned home. Then you came back yourself." "Yes. That is all true. But tell me Sidney, did you see Mr. Joyce in the wood or on the moor?" "No. I did not see him. Stephen was the only person I saw." Bess started violently. "Stephen," she said, "surely you must be mistaken." "No," replied the boy indifferently, "why should I be mistaken? You know I can see in the dark like a cat. Before I saw your lantern, I had seen Stephen on the lawn looking at the tower. I do not know what time it was, so don't ask me. You are always so particular about time," said Sidney peevishly, "as though it mattered." Bess reflected. It was strange that Stephen should have been in the vicinity of the house on that night and yet have escaped her notice. But she remembered that being intent upon looking for her brother that she had not even seen Joyce, although he was lurking in the bushes at her elbow. True she had caught a glimpse of Frisco. But that was when she consciously looked at the door. It was possible that Sidney might have come across Stephen. "Did you speak to him?" she asked. "No. Why should I have spoken to him?" "Did he go into the house?" "Not that I saw Bess. He was looking up at the tower, standing on the lawn by the trees. I went away to the other side of the wood, and out on to the moor. That is all I know." "But Sidney, did you see Frisco crossing the moor?" "I did not. When I saw your lantern I went home. I wish you would stop asking me questions," he cried irritably, "you make my head ache." After this speech, he relapsed into one of his silent fits, and Bess could not get him to speak. Knowing from experience that Sidney was hopeless when in this mood, she left him still by the fairy ring, and took her way back to Biffstead. The house was empty, as Ida had gone to Beorminster to see Flo, and Frank was attending to the farm.