"
The soldier looked heavily at the bag. He was tired too; and he did not
care for this kind of work.
"Well," said Lackington again, "I must be getting home safe. Keep the
door; you shall be relieved in one hour."
The soldier nodded at him; but still said nothing; and Lackington lifted
the valise and went off too under the archway.
* * * *
That same morning Lady Maxwell in her room in the Hall at Great Keynes
awoke early before dawn with a start. She had had a dream but could not
remember what it was, except that her son James was in it, and seemed to
be in trouble. He was calling on her to save him, she thought, and awoke
at the sound of his voice. She often dreamt of him at this time; for the
life of a seminary priest was laid with snares and dangers. But this
dream seemed worse than all.
She struck a light, and looked timidly round the room; it seemed still
ringing with his voice. A great tapestry in a frame hung over the
mantelpiece, Actaeon followed by his hounds; the hunter panted as he ran,
and was looking back over his shoulder; and the long-jawed dogs streamed
behind him down a little hill.
So strong was the dream upon the old lady that she felt restless, and
presently got up and went to the window and opened a shutter to look out.
A white statue or two beyond the terrace glimmered in the dusk, and the
stars were bright in the clear frosty night overhead. She closed the
shutter and went back again to bed; but could not sleep.
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