I tore open the letter, and found in it some scribbled words in pencil, which read-- "_I am in deadly peril! If you are my friend come here at once, and save me_!--Asta." CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. IN THE BALANCE. "How did you get this?" I asked the youth. "Who are you?" "I'm John May, sir," was his answer. "I work in the gardens at Lydford, an' last night, soon after eleven, as I was a-comin' home from Rockingham, I met Miss Asta out in the drive. She was like a mad thing. She 'ad the letter and wanted it delivered at once. So I went to the stables and, sayin' nothink, came away." "Then she had written this note, and gone out in the hope of finding some one to deliver it?" I exclaimed, glancing at his horse, and noticing that it was absolutely done up after an all-night ride. "I didn't know it was you, sir, that passed me in a motor-car," the young gardener went on. "No," I said, re-reading the mysterious summons for help. "But you and your horse must remain here and rest. I shall return to Lydford in the car." Full of anxiety, I put on my mackintosh and cap, for it was raining steadily, and within a quarter of an hour of receiving the note I was already on my way along the autumn-tinted roads. The morning was that of the first of November. Regardless of speed-limits or of police-traps, I tore along until, just before eleven, I again pulled up at the ancient stone porch of the Hall. A maid-servant opened the door, and I eagerly inquired for Miss Seymour. "She's very ill, sir," was the girl's reply. "Mr Shaw's been called on the Bench this morning, but he'll be back in an hour. Doctor Redwood is here, sir." "Redwood! Then what's the matter?" I gasped. "I hardly know, sir. But here's Mrs Howard!" and looking along the wide hall I saw the grave-faced woman in black standing out of the light. "Oh, Mrs Howard?" I cried, walking up to her. "What's happened to Miss Asta? Tell me. Is she ill?" "Very, I'm afraid, sir," replied the housekeeper in a low voice. "The doctor is upstairs with her. What happened in the night was most extraordinary and mysterious." "Tell me--tell me all, I beg of you," I cried quickly.