It was much lighter than she expected， and though the sky was overcast， one patch of watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds. The fields beneather looked grey， and the trees black. There was a certain mount of wind.a hushing， ruffling sort of wind which eant that rain was coming soon.
The Owl wheeled round so that the castle was now ahead f them. Very few of the windows showed lights. They flew ght over it， northwards， crossing the river： the air grew older， and Jill thought she could see the white reflection f the Owl in the water beneath her. But soon they were on he north bank of the river， flying above wooded country. The Owl snapped at something which Jill couldn‘t see. “Oh， don’t， please！” said Jill. “Don‘t jerk like that. You early threw me off.”
“I beg your pardon，” said the Owl. “I was just nabbing a at. There’s nothing so sustaining， in a small way， as a nice lump little bat. Shall I catch you one？”
“No， thanks，” said Jill with a shudder.
