She jumped out of bed, threw open the window, and listened again.

Could it be that he had found the way from Amber Hill, and come so many miles to look for her?
Darling old Scamp, was it possible he loved her so much?
Yes, it was indeed his voice; he was outside the house, almost under her window, and she must and would go down and take him in.
She opened the door cautiously and went out into the passage.

The barking was not heard so distinctly here, and she hoped that no one would hear it but herself.

How dreadful if somebody should go and beat him away before she could reach him! She pattered down-stairs with her little bare feet and made her way through the darkness to the great hall door.

But she had forgotten how great and heavy that door was, and had not thought of the chain that hung across it at night, and the big lock in which she could not turn the key.