eight
o'clock
she 'll jist please hersel ' ; she 'll pe owing ta Beg naething by ta next new moon . '' And with a mocking laugh Sandy loitered away towards the seashore . Just after this interview a little lad put a note in John 's hand from Margaret Fae . It only asked him to be on Brogar Bridge at eight o'clock that night . Now Brogar Bridge was not a spot that any Orcadian cared to visit at such an hour . In the pagan temple whose remains stood there it was said pale ghosts of white-robed priests still offered up shadowy human sacrifices , and though John 's faith was firm and sure , superstitions are beyond reasoning with , and he recalled the eerie , weird aspect of the grim stones with an unavoidable apprehension . What could Margaret want with him in such a place and at an hour so near that at which Peter usually went home from his shop ?