The Old Castle and Other Stories | Page 3

Prue, bursting into tears, "did it kill
him?"
A merry laugh from Bernard, followed by a hearty chorus from the rest,
restored bewildered little Prue to her senses. But Dudley went on very
soberly.
"Bernard screamed as he went over, and with that scream all my anger
died in a minute, and I sat down on the stairs, shaking from head to foot.
Then I listened, but I didn't hear a sound. I don't know how long I sat
there, but at last I got up very slowly, and began to come down just like
an old man. It was so dreadfully still in the old castle, that I felt in a
queer way, as if I must be very careful, too, and I stepped on my
tip-toes, and held my breath. When I got to the foot, I felt as if a big

hand held my heart tight, and when I tried to walk towards the spot
where I thought Bernard must have fallen, I could not move a step. But
after a great while--it seemed like a year--I managed to drag myself to
the place, and, do you know, no one was there!"
"Why, where could he be?" cried the astonished children.
"Well, I thought he might have fallen, and rolled off under the stairs
into that dreadful vault."
"Oh, don't have him get in there, please," cried tender little Prue.
"Then," said Dudley slowly, "I leaned over the vault, and called his
name, 'Bernard! Bernard!' and then I jumped back, and almost
screamed, for I thought some other boy had spoken. I did not know my
own voice; it sounded so strange and solemn. But no one answered, and
I dragged myself away, feeling as if that awful hand grew tighter on my
heart, and thinking, as I went out of the door, how two of us went in,
and why I was coming out alone. Then I sat down on the grass, and
though it was warm summer weather, I shivered from head to foot, and
I remember thinking to myself, 'This queer boy sitting here isn't Dudley
Wylde--this boy couldn't get angry, he's as cold as an icicle--and
Dudley Wylde's heart used to beat, beat, oh! so lively and quick, but
this boy's heart is under a great weight, and will never stir again--this
boy will never run again, nor laugh, nor care for anything--this boy isn't,
he can't be Dudley Wylde;' and I felt so sorry for him I almost cried.
Then, all of a sudden, I remember, I began to work very hard. I picked
up stones out of the path, and carried them a great way off, and worked
till I was just ready to drop. Then I took some flowers, and picked them
all to pieces--so curious to see how they were put together, and I
worked at that till I was nearly wild with headache. Then I sat very still,
and wondered if that boy who wasn't, couldn't be, Dudley Wylde--was
ever going home; and then I thought that perhaps if he sat there a little
while longer he would die, and that was the best thing that could
happen to him, for then he would never hear any one say--'Where is
Bernard?' So I sat there in this queer way, waiting for the boy to die,
when I heard a noise, and, looking up, saw--"

"Oh, what?" cried little Prue, clasping her hands, "a griffin, with
claws?"
But Dudley could not speak, and Bernard went on. "It's too bad for
'Dud' to tell that story, when he makes himself so much worse than he
really was. I was as much to blame as he in that quarrel, and I ought to
have had my share of the misery. You see, when he threw me over, my
tippet caught on the rough edge of the railing, and held me just a
minute, but that minute saved me, for in some way, I hardly know how,
I swung in and dropped safely on the steps just under 'Dud.' Then I
hurried into one of those queer little places in the wall, and hid, for I
was angry, and meant to give him a good fright; and as I happened to
have a little book in my pocket, I began to read, and got so interested
that I forgot everything till it began to grow dark. Then I hurried down,
wondering that everything was so still. But when I saw 'Dud,'" said he,
turning with an affectionate glance to his cousin, "I was frightened, for
he was so changed I hardly knew him, and I was afraid he was dying.
So I ran to him, and took him right in my arms, and called him every
dear name I could think of; but he