Our gates fly wide to welcome my father's friends when we know of their approach, I assure you, sir." The stranger bowed, and, smiling in reply, lost for the moment his air of melancholy.
"Your hiding-place is close at hand," she said, and looked again at the ring.
It was certainly her father's; she had often seen it on his hand.

And Bevis, too! No, there could be no longer any doubt as to the stranger's genuineness.

At least, if there were, she banished it forthwith, for, moving swiftly to the door, she locked it, and then, crossing the room to the fireplace, held up the light and revealed a portrait of an elderly man in Elizabethan costume.
"My great-grandfather," she said, "with whom, as I will show you, liberties have been taken." So saying, she climbed on a chair, and, reaching upward, pressed her finger against the portrait's right eye.

As she did so, a spring was set in motion, and the picture slid upwards, taking the top line of the heavy oak frame with it, and leaving the remaining three sides in their place, disclosing a cavity in the wall.
"Climb in there," Barbara said, handing the candle to the stranger, "and turn sharp to the right, and then to the left, and you will come to an iron door, which rises and falls like a portcullis.

The handle is of no use, but on the ceiling you will see the motto, _'Nil desperandum,'_ which you must take as counsel offered to yourself.
Press the space in the centre of the D, and the door will open." The stranger did so.
"Now," Barbara called to him, "wait a little, and I will bring you food." She replaced the picture, and sought the kitchen, soon returning with the remains of a pasty and a flask of Rhenish, which, after again touching the spring, she handed up to her guest.