The Ranger took not the direct road to Minster, which he ought to have
passed on his way to the Gull's Nest, where he resolved to ascertain if
Barbara's body was at Cecil Place; but after crossing the downs, that
were brightening in the summer's sun and alive with multitudes of sheep,
wound round the base of the hill on which the mansion stood, and as its
mixture of ancient and modern architecture became developed, he paused
to look upon a spot so endeared by many affectionate recollections. The
trees that encircled the fairy ring were conspicuous for their height
and beauty of colour; there, too, was the casement window which he had
so often watched, knowing that Barbara must pass it in her morning and
evening attendance on her lady; there, peeping from beneath a turret,
the lattice admitting light to Barbara's own little chamber; there, the
window of Constantia's sitting-room; there---- But he could gaze no
longer, his heart sickened within him, and covering his face with his
hands, he rushed into a narrow glen that skirted the hillside, and was
completely overshadowed by trees, whose unpruned branches were matted
and twined together in most fantastic and impervious underwood. He
pursued this track, with which he was well acquainted, as leading
directly to the back entrance, where he more than once resolved to
inquire where Barbara's remains were placed; but he had scarcely
proceeded a dozen yards towards the house, when his attention was
excited by a sudden and loud rustling amongst the bushes, and on looking
towards the spot, he saw first one and then another raven mount in the
air, uttering, at short intervals, the peculiar dull and complaining
cry of rapacious birds when frightened from their prey. The creatures
evidently meditated another descent, for, instead of betaking themselves
to the neighbouring trees, they circled round and round in the air, now
higher, now lower, mingling their monotonous notes with an occasional
scream--thus inharmoniously disturbing the sweet solitude by their
unholy orgies. In the mean time, the rustling beneath was renewed, and
then as suddenly ceased; but the birds, instead of descending, whirled
still higher, as if the object they had sought was for a time hidden
from their sight. The Ranger proceeded more cautiously than before, and
peering into the bushes, descried one whom he immediately recognised as
Jack Roupall, unfastening something of considerable bulk that was
contained in a handkerchief, and had apparently lain there for some
days, as the grass from which it had been taken was completely levelled
by its pressure. Roupall's ears were nearly as quick as those of Robin,
and an exclamation of recognition escaped his lips as he turned round to
where the Ranger stood.