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diff --git a/14832-h/14832-h.htm b/14832-h/14832-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..307a6aa --- /dev/null +++ b/14832-h/14832-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11347 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + A Maid of the Silver Sea | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.w50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w50 {width: 75%;} + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.vt {vertical-align: top;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: smaller;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px; font-size: smaller; font-size: smaller;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left; font-size: smaller;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:#ff0000} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Maid of the Silver Sea, by John Oxenham</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A Maid of the Silver Sea</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: John Oxenham</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 29, 2005 [eBook #14832]<br> +[Most recently updated: August 21, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Steven Gibbs + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + (https://www.pgdp.net)</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MAID OF THE SILVER SEA ***</div> + +<hr class="full"> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + <h1>A MAID OF THE SILVER SEA</h1> + + <h3>BY</h3> + + <h2>JOHN OXENHAM</h2> + + <h5>WITH FRONTISPIECE IN COLOUR BY HAROLD COPPING</h5> + + <h6>Hodder and Stoughton Warwick Square, London, E.C.</h6> + + <h5>1910</h5> + <p> </p> + + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" class="w50" alt="Nance Hamon" title="Nance Hamon"><br> + <p class="center"><b>Nance Hamon</b></p> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h5>TO<br> + MY FRIEND<br> + EDWARD BAKER<br> + OF LA CHAUMIERE, SARK<br> + <br> + ON WHOSE MOST HOSPITABLE AND SUPREMELY<br> + COMFORTABLE VERANDAH, LOOKING OUT<br> + TO THE FAIR COAST OF FRANCE, THIS<br> + STORY WAS PARTLY WRITTEN, I<br> + INSCRIBE THE SAME IN REMEMBRANCE<br> + OF MANY<br> + DELIGHTFUL DAYS<br> + TOGETHER</h5> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + <div class="center"> + <table class="autotable"> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW TWO LAY IN A CLEFT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW NANCE CAME TO BE HERSELF</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THE NEW MINE CAPTAIN CAME</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW GARD MADE NEW ACQUAINTANCES</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW NANCE SHONE THROUGH HER MODEST<br>VEILING</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW GRANNIE SCHEMED SCHEMES</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW GARD FOUGHT GALES AND TOM</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW TOM WANTED TO BUT DIDN'T DARE</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW OLD TOM FOUND THE SILVER HEART</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW YOUNG TOM FOUND HIS MATCH</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW GARD DREW NEARER TO HIS HEART'S DESIRE</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW NANCE CAME UP THE MAIN SHAFT WITHOUT<br>GOING DOWN IT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW GARD REFUSED AN OFFER AND MADE<br>AN ENEMY</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THEY WENT THROUGH THE DARKNESS<br>OF THE NARROW WAY</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW TWO FELL OUT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW ONE FELL OVER</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW TOM WENT TO SCHOOL FOR THE LAST TIME</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW PETER'S DIPLOMACY CAME TO NOUGHT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THE SARK MEN FELT ABOUT IT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW SARK CRAVED BLOOD FOR BLOOD</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW LOVE TOOK LOVE TO SANCTUARY</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THE STARS SANG OF HOPE</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW NANCE SENT FOOD AND HOPE TO HIM</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HE SAW STRANGE SIGHTS</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HE LIVED THROUGH THE GREAT STORM</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HE HELD THE ROCK</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW ONE CAME TO HIM LIKE AN ANGEL FROM<br>HEAVEN</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THE OTHERS CAME TO MAKE AN END</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HE CAME INTO AN UNKNOWN PLACE</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW NANCE WATCHED FROM AFAR</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><b>CHAPTER XXXI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW TWO WENT IN AND THREE CAME OUT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><b>CHAPTER XXXII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW JULIE MEDITATED EVIL</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HOPE CAME ONCE AGAIN</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXXIV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW JULIE'S SCHEMES FELL FLAT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV"><b>CHAPTER XXXV</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW AN ANGEL CAME BRINGING THE TRUTH</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXXVI</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW HE CAME HOME FROM L'ETAT</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXXVII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THEY LAID TRAPS FOR THE DEVIL</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXVIII</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THEY LAID THE DEVIL BY THE HEELS</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr vt"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXXIX</b></a> </td><td class="tdl"> HOW THEY THANKED GOD FOR HIS MERCIES</td></tr> + </table></div> +<p> </p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + <h3>HOW TWO LAY IN A CLEFT</h3> + + <p>A girl and a boy lay in a cubby-hole in the north side of the + cliff overlooking Port Gorey, and watched the goings-on down + below.</p> + + <p>The sun was tending towards Guernsey and the gulf was filled + witn golden light. A small brig, unkempt and dirty, was nosing + towards the rough wooden landing-stage clamped to the opposite + rocks, as though doubtful of the advisability of attempting its + closer acquaintance.</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu, Bern, how I wish they were all at the bottom of the + sea!" said the girl vehemently.</p> + + <p>"Whe—e—e—w!" whistled the boy, and then with + a twinkle in his eye,—"Who's got a new parasol now?"</p> + + <p>"Everybody!—but it's not that. It's the bustle—and + the dirt—and the noise—and oh—everything! You + can't remember what it was like before these wretched mines + came—no dust, no noise, no bustle, no dirty men, no silly + women, no nothing as it is now. Just Sark as it used to be. And + now—! Mon Gyu, yes I wish the sea would break in through + their nasty tunnels and wash them all away—pumps and + engines and houses—everything!"</p> + + <p>And up on the hillside at the head of the gulf the great + pumping-engine clacked monotonously "Never! Never! Never!"</p> + + <p>"You've got it bad to-day, Nan," said the boy.</p> + + <p>"I've always got it bad. It makes me sick. It has changed + everything and everybody—everybody except mother and you," + she added quickly. "Get—get—get! Why we hardly used + to know what money was, and now no one thinks of anything but + getting all they can. It is sickening."</p> + + <p>"S—s—s—s—t!" signalled the boy + suddenly, at the sound of steps and voices on the cliff outside + and close at hand.</p> + + <p>"Tom," muttered the boy.</p> + + <p>"And Peter Mauger," murmured the girl, and they both shrank + lower into their hiding-place.</p> + + <p>It was a tiny natural chamber in the sharp slope of the hill. + Ages ago the massive granite boulders of the headland, loosened + and undercut by the ceaseless assaults of wind and weather and + the deadly quiet fingers of the frost, had come rolling down the + slope till they settled afresh on new foundations, forming holes + and crannies and little angular chambers where the splintered + shoulders met. In time, the soil silted down and covered their + asperities, and—like a good colonist—carrying in + itself the means of increase, it presently brought forth and + blossomed, and the erstwhile shattered rocks were royally robed + in russet and purple, and green and gold.</p> + + <p>Among these fantastic little chambers Nance had played as a + child, and had found refuge in them from the persecutions of her + big half-brother, Tom Hamon. Tom was six when she was + born—fourteen accordingly when she was at the teasable age + of eight, and unusually tempting as a victim by reason of her + passionate resentment of his unwelcome attentions.</p> + + <p>She hated Tom, and Tom had always resented her and her + mother's intrusion into the family, and Bernel's, when he came, + four years after Nance.</p> + + <p>What his father wanted to marry again for, Tom never could + make out. His lack of training and limited powers of expression + did not indeed permit him any distinct reasoning on the matter, + but the feeling was there—a dull resentment which found its + only vent and satisfaction in stolid rudeness to his stepmother + and the persecution of Nance and Bernel whenever occasion + offered.</p> + + <p>The household was not therefore on too happy a footing.</p> + + <p>It consisted, at the time when our story opens, of—Old + Mrs. Hamon—Grannie—half of whose life had been lived + in the nineteenth century and half in the eighteenth. She had + seen all the wild doings of the privateering and free-trading + days, and recalled as a comparatively recent event the raiding of + the Island by the men of Herm, though that happened forty years + before.</p> + + <p>She was for the most part a very reserved and silent old lady, + but her tongue could bite like a whip when the need arose.</p> + + <p>She occupied her own dower-rooms in the house, and rarely went + outside them. All day long she sat in her great arm-chair by the + window in her sitting-room, with the door wide open, so that she + could see all that went on in the house and outside it; and in + the sombre depths of her great black silk sun-bonnet—long + since turned by age and weather to dusky green—her watchful + eyes had in them something of the inscrutable and menacing.</p> + + <p>Her wants were very few, and as her income from her one-third + of the farm had far exceeded her expenses for more than twenty + years, she was reputed as rich in material matters as she + undoubtedly was in common-sense and worldly wisdom. Even young + Tom was sulkily silent before her on the rare occasions when they + came into contact.</p> + + <p>Next in the family came the nominal head of it, "Old Tom" + Hamon, to distinguish him from young Tom, his son; a rough, not + ill-natured man, until the money-getting fever seized him, since + which time his home-folks had found in him changes that did not + make for their comfort.</p> + + <p>The discovery of silver in Sark, the opening of the mines, and + the coming of the English miners—with all the very + problematical benefits of a vastly increased currency of money, + and the sudden introduction of new ideas and standards of life + and living into a community which had hitherto been contented + with the order of things known to its forefathers—these + things had told upon many, but on none more than old Tom + Hamon.</p> + + <p>Suspicious at first of the meaning and doings of these + strangers, he very soon found them advantageous. He got excellent + prices for his farm produce, and when his horses and carts were + not otherwise engaged he could always turn them to account + hauling for the mines.</p> + + <p>As the silver-fever grew in him he became closer in his + dealings both abroad and at home. With every pound he could + scrimp and save he bought shares in the mines and believed in + them absolutely. And he went on scrimping and saving and buying + shares so as to have as large a stake in the silver future as + possible.</p> + + <p>He got no return as yet from his investment, indeed. But that + would come all right in time, and the more shares he could get + hold of the larger the ultimate return would be. And so he + stinted himself and his family, and mortgaged his future, in + hopes of wealth which he would not have known how to enjoy if he + had succeeded in getting it.</p> + + <p>So possessed was he with the desire for gain that when young + Tom came home from sea he left the farming to him, and took to + the mining himself, and worked harder than he had ever worked in + his life before.</p> + + <p>He was a sturdy, middle-sized man, with a grizzled bullet head + and rounded beard, of a dogged and pertinacious disposition, but + capable, when stirred out of his usual phlegm, of fiery outbursts + which overbore all argument and opposition. His wife died when + his boy Tom was three, and after two years of lonely discomfort + he married Nancy Poidestre of Petit Dixcart, whose people looked + upon it as something of a <i>mésalliance</i> that she should + marry out of her own country into Little Sark.</p> + + <p>Nancy was eminently good-looking and a notable housewife, and + she went into Tom Hamon's house of La Closerie with every hope + and intention of making him happy.</p> + + <p>But, from the very first, little Tom set his face against + her.</p> + + <p>It would be hard to say why. Nancy racked her brain for + reasons, and could find none, and was miserable over it.</p> + + <p>His father thrashed him for his rudeness and insolence, which + only made matters worse.</p> + + <p>His own mother had given way to him in everything, and spoiled + him completely. After her death his father out of pity for his + forlorn estate, had equally given way to him, and only realised, + too late, when he tried to bring him to with a round turn, how + thoroughly out of hand he had got.</p> + + <p>When little Tom found, as one consequence of the new mother's + arrival, that his father thrashed instead of humouring him, he + put it all down to the new-comer's account, and set himself to + her discomfiture in every way his barbarous little wits could + devise.</p> + + <p>He never forgot one awful week he passed in his grandmother's + care—a week that terminated in the arrival of still another + new-comer, who, in course of time, developed into little Nance. + It is not impossible that the remembrance of that black week + tended to colour his after-treatment of his little half-sister. + In spite of her winsomeness he hated her always, and did his very + best to make life a burden to her.</p> + + <p>When, on that memorable occasion, he was hastily flung by his + father into his grandmother's room, as the result of some + wickedness which had sorely upset his stepmother, and the door + was, most unusually, closed behind him, his first natural impulse + was to escape as quickly as possible.</p> + + <p>But he became aware of something unusual and discomforting in + the atmosphere, and when his grandmother said sternly, "Sit + down!" and he turned on her to offer his own opinion on the + matter, he found the keen dark eyes gazing out at him from under + the shadowy penthouse of the great black sun-bonnet, with so + intent and compelling a stare that his mouth closed without + saying a word. He climbed up on to a chair and twisted his feet + round the legs by way of anchorage.</p> + + <p>Then he sat up and stared back at Grannie, and as an + exhibition of nonchalance and high spirit, put out his tongue at + her.</p> + + <p>Grannie only looked at him.</p> + + <p>And, bit by bit, the tongue withdrew, and only the gaping + mouth was left, and above it a pair of frightened green eyes, + transmitting to the perverse little soul within new impressions + and vague terrors.</p> + + <p>Before long his left arm went up over his face to shut out the + sight of Grannie's dreadful staring eyes, and when, after a + sufficient interval, he ventured a peep at her and found her eyes + still fixed on him, he howled, "Take it off! Take it off!" and + slipped his anchors and slid to the floor, hunching his back at + this tormentor who could beat him on his own ground.</p> + + <p>For that week he gave no trouble to any one. But after it he + never went near Grannie's room, and for years he never spoke to + her. When he passed her open door, or in front of her window, he + hunched his shoulder protectively and averted his eyes.</p> + + <p>Resenting control in any shape or form, Tom naturally objected + to school.</p> + + <p>His stepmother would have had him go—for his own sake as + well as hers. But his father took a not unusual Sark view of the + matter.</p> + + <p>"What's the odds?" said he. "He'll have the farm. + Book-learning will be no use to him," and in spite of Nancy's + protests—which Tom regarded as simply the natural outcrop + of her ill-will towards him—the boy grew up untaught and + uncontrolled, and knowing none but the worst of all + masters—himself.</p> + + <p>On occasion, when the tale of provocation reached its limit, + his father thrashed him, until there came a day when Tom upset + the usual course of proceedings by snatching the stick out of his + father's hands, and would have belaboured him in turn if he had + not been promptly knocked down.</p> + + <p>After that his father judged it best for all concerned that he + should flight his troublesome wings outside for a while. So he + sent him off in a trading-ship, in the somewhat forlorn hope that + a knowledge of the world would knock some of the devil out of + him—a hope which, like many another, fell short of + accomplishment.</p> + + <p>The world knocks a good deal out of a man, but it also knocks + a good deal in. Tom came back from his voyaging knowing a good + many things that he had not known when he started—a little + English among others—and most of the others things which + had been more profitably left unlearnt.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + <h3>HOW NANCE CAME TO BE HERSELF</h3> + + <p>And little Nance?</p> + + <p>The most persistent memories of Nance's childhood were her + fear and hatred of Tom, and her passionate love for her + mother,—and Bernel when he came.</p> + + <p>"My own," she called these two, and regarded even her father + as somewhat outside that special pale; esteemed Grannie as an + Olympian, benevolently inclined, but dwelling on a remote and + loftier plane; and feared and detested Tom as an open enemy.</p> + + <p>And she had reasons.</p> + + <p>She was a high-strung child, too strong and healthy to be + actually nervous, but with every faculty always at its + fullest—not only in active working order but always + actively at work—an admirable subject therefore for the + malevolence of an enemy whose constant proximity offered him + endless opportunity.</p> + + <p>Much of his boyish persecution never reached the ears of the + higher powers. Nance very soon came to accept Tom's rough + treatment as natural from a big fellow of fourteen to a small + girl of eight, and she bore it stoically and hated him the + harder.</p> + + <p>Her mother taught her carefully to say her prayers, which + included petitions for the welfare of Grannie and father and + brother Tom, and for a time, with the perfunctoriness of + childhood, which attaches more weight to the act than to the + meaning of it, she allowed that to pass with a stickle and a + slur. But very soon brother Tom was ruthlessly dropped out of the + ritual, and neither threats nor persuasion could induce her to + re-establish him.</p> + + <p>Later on, and in private, she added to her acknowledged + petitions an appendix, unmistakably brief and to the + point—"And, O God, please kill brother Tom!"—and + lived in hope.</p> + + <p>She was an unusually pretty child, though her prettiness + developed afterwards—as childish prettiness does not + always—into something finer and more lasting.</p> + + <p>She had, as a child, large dark blue eyes, which wore as a + rule a look of watchful anxiety—put there by brother Tom. + To the end of her life she carried the mark of a cut over her + right eyebrow, which came within an ace of losing her the sight + of that eye. It was brother Tom did that.</p> + + <p>She had an abundance of flowing brown hair, by which Tom + delighted to lift her clear off the ground, under threat of + additional boxed ears if she opened her mouth. The wide, firm + little mouth always remained closed, but the blue eyes burned + fiercely, and the outraged little heart, thumping furiously at + its impotence, did its best to salve its wounds with ceaseless + repetition of its own private addition to the prescribed form of + morning and evening prayer.</p> + + <p>Once, even Tom's dull wit caught something of meaning in the + blaze of the blue eyes.</p> + + <p>"What are you saying, you little devil?" he growled, and + released her so suddenly that she fell on her knees in the + mud.</p> + + <p>And she put her hands together, as she was in the habit of + doing, and prayed, "O God, please kill brother Tom!"</p> + + <p>"Little devil!" said brother Tom, with a startled red face, + and made a dash at her; but she had foreseen that and was gone + like a flash.</p> + + <p>One might have expected her childish comeliness to exercise + something of a mollifying effect on his brutality. On the + contrary, it seemed but to increase it. She was so sweet; he was + so coarse. She was so small and fragile; he was so big and + strong. Her prettiness might work on others. He would let her see + and feel that he was not the kind to be fooled by such + things.</p> + + <p>He had the elemental heartlessness of the savage, which + recognises no sufferings but its own, and refuses to be affected + even by them.</p> + + <p>When Nance's kitten, presented to her by their neighbour, Mrs. + Helier Baker, solved much speculation as to its sex by becoming a + mother, Tom gladly undertook the task of drowning the superfluous + offspring. He got so much amusement out of it that, for weeks, + Nance's horrified inner vision saw little blind heads, + half-drowned and mewing piteously, striving with feeble pink + claws to climb out of the death-tub and being ruthlessly set + swimming again till they sank.</p> + + <p>She hurled herself at Tom as he gloated over his enjoyment, + and would have asked nothing better than to treat him as he was + treating the kittens—righteous retribution in her case, not + enjoyment!—but he was too strong for her. He simply kicked + out behind, and before she could get up had thrust one of his + half-drowned victims into the neck of her frock, and the + clammy-dead feel of it and its pitiful screaming set her + shuddering for months whenever she thought of it.</p> + + <p>But now and again her tormentor overpassed the bounds and got + his reward—to Nance's immediate satisfaction but subsequent + increased tribulation. For whenever he got a thrashing on her + account he never failed to pay her out in the smaller change of + persecution which never came to light.</p> + + <p>On a pitch-dark, starless night, the high-hedged—and in + places deep-sunk—lanes of Little Sark are as black as the + inside of an ebony ruler.</p> + + <p>When the moon bathes sea and land in a flood of shimmering + silver, or on a clear night of stars—and the stars in Sark, + you must know, shine infinitely larger and closer and brighter + than in most other places—the darkness below is lifted + somewhat by reason of the majestic width and height of the + glittering dome above. But when moon and stars alike are wanting, + then the darkness of a Sark lane is a thing to be felt, + and—if you should happen to be a little girl of eight, with + a large imagination and sharp ears that have picked up fearsome + stories of witches and ghosts and evil spirits—to be + mortally feared.</p> + + <p>Tom had a wholesome dread of such things himself. But the fear + of fourteen, in a great strong body and no heavenly spark of + imagination, is not to be compared with the fear of eight and a + mind that could quiver like a harp even at its own imaginings. + And, to compass his ends, he would blunt his already dull + feelings and turn the darkness to his account.</p> + + <p>When he knew Nance was out on such a night—on some + errand, or in at a neighbour's—to crouch in the hedge and + leap silently out upon her was huge delight; and it was well + worth braving the grim possibilities of the hedges in order to + extort from her the anger in the bleat of terror which, as a + rule, was all that her paralysed heart permitted, as she turned + and fled.</p> + + <p>Almost more amusing—as considerably extending the + enjoyment—was it to follow her quietly on such occasions, + yet not so quietly but that she was perfectly aware of footsteps + behind, which stopped when she stopped and went on again when she + went on, and so kept her nerves on the quiver the whole time.</p> + + <p>Creeping fearfully along in the blackness, with eyes and ears + on the strain, and both little shoulders humped against the + expected apparition of Tom—or worse, she would become aware + of the footsteps behind her.</p> + + <p>Then she would stop suddenly to make sure, and stand listening + painfully, and hear nothing but the low hoarse growl of the sea + that rarely ceases, day or night, among the rocks of Little + Sark.</p> + + <p>Then she would take a tentative step or two and stop again, + and then dash on. And always there behind her were the footsteps + that followed in the dark.</p> + + <p>Then she would fumble with her foot for a stone and stoop + hastily—for you are at a disadvantage with ghosts and with + Toms when you stoop—and pick it up and hurl it + promiscuously in the direction of the footsteps, and quaver, in a + voice that belied its message, "Go away, Tom Hamon! I can see + you,"—which was a little white fib born of the black + urgency of the situation;—"and I'm not the least bit + afraid,"—which was most decidedly another.</p> + + <p>And so the journey would progress fitfully and in spasms, and + leave nightmare recollections for the disturbance of one's + sleep.</p> + + <p>But there were variations in the procedure at times.</p> + + <p>As when, on one occasion, Nance's undiscriminating projectile + elicited from the darkness a plaintive "Moo!" which came, she + knew, from her favourite calf Jeanetton, who had broken her + tether in the field and sought companionship in the road, and had + followed her doubtfully, stopping whenever she stopped, and so + received the punishment intended for another.</p> + + <p>Nance kissed the bruise on Jeanetton's ample forehead next day + very many times, and explained the whole matter to her at + considerable length, and Jeanetton accepted it all very placidly + and bore no ill-will.</p> + + <p>Another time, when Nance had taken a very specially compounded + cake over to her old friend, Mrs. Baker, as a present from her + mother, and had been kept much longer than she wished—for + the old lady's enjoyment of her pretty ways and entertaining + prattle—she set out for home in fear and trembling.</p> + + <p>It was one of the pitch-black nights, and she went along on + tiptoes, hugging the empty plate to her breast, and glancing + fearfully over first one shoulder, then the other, then over both + and back and front all at once.</p> + + <p>She was almost home, and very grateful for it, when the + dreaded black figure leaped silently out at her from its + crouching place, and she tore down the lane to the house, Tom's + hoarse guffaws chasing her mockingly.</p> + + <p>The open door cleft a solid yellow wedge in the darkness. She + was almost into it, when her foot caught, and she flung head + foremost into the light with a scream, and lay there with the + blood pouring down her face from the broken plate.</p> + + <p>A finger's-breadth lower and she would have gone through life + one-eyed, which would have been a grievous loss to humanity at + large, for sweeter windows to a large sweet soul never shone than + those out of which little Nance Hamon's looked.</p> + + <p>Most houses may be judged by their windows, but these material + windows are not always true gauge of what is within. They may be + decked to deceive, but the clear windows of the soul admit of no + disguise. That little life tenant is always looking out and + showing himself in his true colours—whether he knows it or + not.</p> + + <p>Nance's terrified scream took old Tom out at a bound. He had + heard the quick rush of her feet and Tom's mocking laughter in + the distance. He carried Nance in to her mother, snatched up a + stick, and went after the culprit who had promptly + disappeared.</p> + + <p>It was two days before Tom sneaked in again and took his + thrashing dourly. Little Nance had shut her lips tight when her + father questioned her, and refused to say a word. But he was + satisfied as to where the blame lay and administered justice with + a heavy hand.</p> + + <p>Bernel—as soon as he grew to persecutable + age—provided Tom with another victim. But time was on the + victims' side, and when Nance got to be twelve—Bernel being + then eight and Tom eighteen—their combined energies and + furies of revolt against his oppressions put matters more on a + level.</p> + + <p>Many a pitched battle they had, and sometimes almost won. But, + win or lose, the fact that they had no longer to suffer without + lifting a hand was great gain to them, and the very fact that + they had to go about together for mutual protection knitted still + stronger the ties that bound them one to the other.</p> + + <p>But, though little Nance's earlier years suffered much from + the black shadow of brother Tom, they were very far from being + years of darkness.</p> + + <p>She was of an unusually bright and enquiring disposition, + always wanting to see and know and understand, interested in + everything about her, and never satisfied till she had got to the + bottom of things, or at all events as far down as it was possible + for a small girl to get.</p> + + <p>Her lively chatter and ceaseless questions left her mother and + Grannie small chance of stagnation. But, if she asked many + questions—and some of them posers—it was not simply + for the sake of asking, but because she truly wanted to know; and + even Grannie, who was not naturally talkative, never resented her + pertinent enquiries, but gave freely of her accumulated wisdom + and enjoyed herself in the giving.</p> + + <p>When she got beyond their depth at times, or outside their + limits, she would boldly carry her queries—and strange ones + they were at times—to old Mr. Cachemaille, the Vicar up in + Sark, making nothing of the journey and the Coupée in + order to solve some, to her, important problem. And he not only + never refused her but delighted to open to her the stores of a + well-stocked mind and of the kindest and gentlest of hearts.</p> + + <p>Often and often the people of Vauroque and Plaisance would see + them pass, hand in hand and full of talk, when the Vicar had + wished to see with his own eyes one or other of Nance's wonderful + discoveries, in the shape of cave or rock-pool, or deposit of + sparkling crystal fingers—amethyst and topaz—or what + not.</p> + + <p>For she was ever lighting on odd and beautiful bits of + Nature's craftsmanship. Books were hardly to be had in those + days, and in place of them she climbed fearlessly about the rough + cliff-sides and tumbled headlands, and looked close at Nature + with eyes that missed nothing and craved everything.</p> + + <p>To the neighbours the headlands were places where rabbits were + to be shot for dinner, the lower rocks places where ormers and + limpets and vraie might be found. But to little Nance the rabbits + were playfellows whose sudden deaths she lamented and resented; + the cliff-sides were glorious gardens thick with sweet-scented + yellow gorse and honeysuckle and wild roses, carpeted with + primroses and bluebells; and, in their season, rich and juicy + with blackberries beyond the possibilities of picking.</p> + + <p>She was on closest visiting terms with innumerable broods of + newly-hatched birdlings—knew them, indeed, while they were + still but eggs—delighted in them when they were as yet but + skin and mouth—rejoiced in their featherings and flyings. + Even baby cuckoos were a joy to her, though, on their + foster-mothers' accounts she resented the thriftlessness of their + parents, and grew tired each year of their monotonous call which + ceased not day or night. But of the larks never, for their songs + seemed to her of heaven, while the cuckoos were of earth. The + gulls, too, were somewhat difficult from the friendly point of + view, but she lay for hours overlooking their domestic + arrangements and envying the wonders of their matchless + flight.</p> + + <p>And down below the cliffs what marvels she + discovered!—marvels which in many cases the Vicar was fain + to content himself with at second hand, since closer acquaintance + seemed to him to involve undoubted risk to limb if not to life. + Little Nance, indeed, hopped down the seamed cliffs like a rock + pipit, with never a thought of the dangers of the passage, and he + would stand and watch her with his heart in his mouth, and only + shake his grey head at her encouraging assertions that it was + truly truly as easy as easy. For he felt certain that even if he + got down he would never get up again. And so, when the triumphant + shout from below told him she was safely landed, he would wave a + grateful hand and get back from the edge and seat himself + securely on a rock, till the rosy face came laughing up between + him and the shimmering sea, with trophy of weed or shell or + crystal quartz, and he would tell her all he knew about them, and + she would try to tell him of all he had missed by not coming + down.</p> + + <p>There were wonderful great basins down there, all lined with + pink and green corallines, and full of the loveliest weeds and + anemones and other sea-flowers, and the rivulets that flowed from + them to the sea were lined pink and green, too. And this that she + had brought him was the flaming sea-weed, though truly it did not + look it now, but in the water it was, she assured him, of the + loveliest, and there were great bunches there so that the dark + holes under the rocks were all alight with it.</p> + + <p>She coaxed him doubtfully to the descent of the rounded + headland facing L'Etat, picking out an easy circuitous way for + him, and so got him safely down to her own special pool, hollowed + out of the solid granite by centuries of patient grinding on the + part of the great boulders within.</p> + + <p>It was there, peering down at the fishes below, that she + expressed a wish to imitate them; and he agreeing, she ran up to + the farm for a bit of rope and was back before he had half + comprehended all the beauties of the pool. And he had no sooner + explained the necessary movements to her and she had tried them, + than she cast off the rope, shouting, "I can swim! I can swim!" + and to his amazement swam across the pool and back—a good + fifty feet each way—chirping with delight in this new-found + faculty and the tonic kiss of the finest water in the world. But + after all it was not so very amazing, for she was absolutely + without fear, and in that water it is difficult to sink.</p> + + <p>They were often down there together after that, for close + alongside were wonderful channels and basins whorled out of the + rock in the most fantastic ways, and to sit and watch the tide + rush up them was a never-failing entertainment.</p> + + <p>And not far away was a blow-hole of the most extraordinary + which shot its spray a hundred feet into the air, and if you + didn't mind getting wet you could sit quite alongside it, so + close that you could put your hand into it as it came rocketing + out of the hole, and then, if the sun was right, you sat in the + midst of rainbows—a thing Nance had always longed to do + since she clapped her baby hands at her first one. But the Vicar + never did that.</p> + + <p>And once, in quest of the how and the why, Nance swam into the + blow-hole's cave at a very low tide, and its size and the dome of + its roof, compared with the narrowness of its entrance, amazed + her, but she did not stay long for it gave her the creeps.</p> + + <p>These were some of the ways by which little Nance grew to a + larger estate than most of her fellows, and all these things + helped to make her what she came to be.</p> + + <p>When she grew old enough to assist in the farm, new realms of + delight opened to her. Chickens, calves, lambs, piglets—she + foster-mothered them all and knew no weariness in all such duties + which were rather pleasures.</p> + + <p>It was a wounded rabbit, limping into cover under a tangle of + gorse and blackberry bushes, that discovered to her the entrance + to the series of little chambers and passages that led right + through the headland to the side looking into Port Gorey. Which + most satisfactory hiding-place she and Bernel turned to good + account on many an occasion when brother Tom's oppression passed + endurance.</p> + + <p>It had taken time, and much screwing up of childish courage, + to explore the whole of that extraordinary little burrow, and it + was not the work of a day.</p> + + <p>When Nance crept along the little run made by many generations + of rabbits, she found that it led finally into a dark crack in + the rock, and, squeezing through that, she was in a small dark + chamber which smelt strongly of her friends.</p> + + <p>As soon as her eyes recovered from the sudden change from + blazing sunlight to almost pitch darkness, she perceived a small + black opening at the far end, and looking through it she saw a + lightening of the darkness still farther in which tempted her + on.</p> + + <p>It was a tough scramble even for her, and the closeness of the + rocks and the loneliness weighed upon her somewhat. But there was + that glimmer of light ahead and she must know what it was, and so + she climbed and wriggled over and under the huge splintered rocks + till she came to the light, like a tiny slit of a window far + above her head, and still there were passages leading on.</p> + + <p>Next day, with Bernel and a tiny crasset lamp for company, she + explored the burrow to its utmost limits and adopted it at once + as their refuge and stronghold. And thereafter they spent much + time there, especially in the end chamber where a tiny slit gave + on to Port Gorey, and they could lie and watch all that went on + down below.</p> + + <p>There they solemnly concocted plans for brother Tom's + discomfiture, and thither they retreated after defeat or victory, + while he hunted high and low for them and never could make out + where they had got to.</p> + + <p>Then Tom went off to sea, and life, for those at home, became + a joy without a flaw—except the thought that he would + sometime come back—unless he got drowned.</p> + + <p>When he returned he was past the boyish bullying and teasing + stage, and his stunts and twists developed themselves along other + lines. Moreover, sailor-fashion, he wore a knife in a sheath at + the back of his belt.</p> + + <p>He found Nance a tall slim girl of sixteen, her childish + prettiness just beginning to fashion itself into the strength and + comeliness of form and feature which distinguished her later + on.</p> + + <p>He swore, with strange oaths, that she was the prettiest bit + of goods he'd set eyes on since he left home, and he'd seen a + many. And he wondered to himself if this could really be the + Nance he used to hate and persecute.</p> + + <p>But Nance detested him and all his ways as of old.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + <h3>HOW THE NEW MINE CAPTAIN CAME</h3> + + <p>Tom Hamon and Peter Mauger seated themselves on a rock within + a few feet of the narrow slit out of which Nance and Bernel had + been looking.</p> + + <p>"Ouaie," said Tom, taking up his parable—"wanted me to + join him in getting a loan on farm, he did."</p> + + <p>"Aw, now!"</p> + + <p>"Ouaie—a loan on farm, and me to join him, 'cause he + couldn' do it without. 'And why?' I asked him."</p> + + <p>"Ah!"</p> + + <p>"An' he told me he was goin' to make a fortune out them silver + mines."</p> + + <p>"Aw!"</p> + + <p>"Ouaie! He'd put in every pound he had and every shilling he + earned. An' the more he could put in the more he would get + out."</p> + + <p>"Aw!"</p> + + <p>"'But,' I said, 'suppos'n it all goes into them big holes and + never comes out—'"</p> + + <p>"Aw!"</p> + + <p>"But he's just crazy 'bout them mines. Says there's silver an' + lead, and guyabble-knows-what-all in 'em, and when they get it + out he'll be a rich man."</p> + + <p>"Aw!" said Peter, nodding his head portentously, as one who + had gauged the futility of earthly riches.</p> + + <p>He was a young man of large possessions but very few words. + When he did allow his thoughts out they came slowly and in jerks, + with lapses at times which the hearer had to fill in as best he + could.</p> + + <p>His father had been an enterprising free-trader, and had made + money before the family farm came to him on the death of his + father. He had married another farm and the heiress attached to + it, and Peter was the result. An only son, both parents dead, two + farms and a good round sum in the Guernsey Bank, such were + Peter's circumstances.</p> + + <p>And himself—good-tempered; lazy, since he had no need to + work; not naturally gifted mentally, and the little he had, + barely stirred by the short course of schooling which had been + deemed sufficient for so worldly-well-endowed a boy; tall, + loose-limbed, easy going and easily led, Peter was the object of + much speculation among marriageably inclined maiden hearts, and + had set his own where it was not wanted.</p> + + <p>"Ouaie," continued Tom, "an' if I'd join him in the loan the + money'd all come to me when he'd done with it."</p> + + <p>"Aw!... Money isn't everything.... Can't get all you want + sometimes when you've got all money you want."</p> + + <p>"G'zammin, Peter! You're as crazy 'bout that lass as th' old + un is 'bout his mines. Why don't ye ask her and ha' done with + it?"</p> + + <p>"Aw—yes. Well.... You see.... I'm makin' up to her + gradual like, and in time——"</p> + + <p>And Bernel in the hole dug his elbow facetiously into Nance's + side.</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu! To think of a slip of a thing like our Nance making + a great big fellow like you as fool-soft as a bit of tallow!" and + Tom stared at him in amazement. "Why, I've licked her scores of + times, and I used to lift her up by the hair of her head."</p> + + <p>"I'd ha' knocked your head right off, Tom Hamon, if I'd been + there. Right off—yes, an' bumped it on the ground."</p> + + <p>"No, you wouldn't. 'Cause, in the first place, you couldn't, + and in the second place you wouldn't have looked at her then. She + was no more to look at than a bit of a rabbit, slipping about, + scared-like, with her big eyes all round her."</p> + + <p>"Great rough bull of a chap you was, Tom. Ought to had more + lickings when you was young."</p> + + <p>"Aw!" said Tom.</p> + + <p>"Join him?" asked Peter after a pause.</p> + + <p>"No, I won't, an' he's no right to ask it, an' he knows it. + Them dirty mines may pay an' they may not, but the farm's a safe + thing an' I'll stick to it."</p> + + <p>"Maybe new capt'n'll make things go better. That's him, I'm + thinking, just got ashore from brig without breaking his legs," + nodding towards the wooden landing-stage on the other side of the + gulf. For landing at Port Gorey was at times a matter requiring + both nerve and muscle.</p> + + <p>A man, however, had just leaped ashore from the brig, and was + now standing looking somewhat anxiously after the landing of his + baggage, which consisted of a wooden chest and an old + carpet-bag.</p> + + <p>When at last it stood safely on the platform, he cast a + comprehensive look at his surroundings and then turned to the + group of men who had come down to watch the boat come in, and + four pairs of eyes on the opposite side of the gulf watched him + curiously, with little thought of the tremendous part he was to + play in all their lives.</p> + + <p>"Where's he stop?" asked Peter.</p> + + <p>"Our house."</p> + + <p>"Nay!"</p> + + <p>"Ouaie, I tell you. He's to stop at our house."</p> + + <p>"Why doesn't he go to Barracks?"</p> + + <p>"Old Captain's there and they might not agree. Oh ouaie, he'll + have his hands full, I'm thinking. And if he's not careful it's a + crack on the head and a drop over the Coupée he'll be + getting."</p> + + <p>"Ah!" said Peter Mauger.</p> + + <p>"Come you along and see what kind of chap he is."</p> + + <p>"Aw well, I don't mind," and they strolled away to inspect the + new Mine Captain, who was to brace up the slackened ropes and + bring the enterprise to a successful issue.</p> + + <p>"Did you know he was going to stop with us, Nance?" asked + Bernel, as they groped their way out after due interval.</p> + + <p>"I heard father tell mother this morning."</p> + + <p>"Where's he to sleep?"</p> + + <p>"He's to have my room and I'm coming up into the loft. I shall + take the dark end, and I've put up a curtain across."</p> + + <p>"Shoo! We'll hear enough about the mines now," and they crept + out behind a gorse bush, and went off across the common towards + the clump of wind-whipped trees inside which the houses of Little + Sark clustered for companionship and shelter from the south-west + gales.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + <h3>HOW GARD MADE NEW ACQUAINTANCES</h3> + + <p>Old Tom Hamon gave the new arrival warm greeting, and pointed + out such matters as might interest him as they climbed the steep + road which led up to the plateau and the houses.</p> + + <p>"Assay Office, Mr. Gard.... Captain's Office.... Forge.... + Sark's Hope shaft.... Le Pelley shaft—ninety fathoms below + sea-level.... Pump shaft ... and yon to east'ard is Prince's + shaft.... We go round here behind engine-house.... Yon's my house + 'mong the trees."</p> + + <p>"That's a fine animal," said Gard, stopping suddenly to look + at a great white horse, which stood nibbling the gorse on the + edge of the cliff right in the eye of the sun, as it drooped + towards Guernsey in a holocaust of purple and amber and crimson + clouds. The glow of the threatening sky threw the great white + figure into unusual prominence.</p> + + <p>"Yours, Mr. Hamon?" asked Gard—and the white horse flung + up its head and pealed out a trumpet-like neigh as though + resenting the imputation.</p> + + <p>"No," said old Tom, staring at the white horse under his + shading hand. "Seigneur's. What's he doing down here? He's + generally kept up at Eperquerie, and that's the best place for + him. He's an awkward beast at times. I must send and tell Mr. Le + Pelley where he is."</p> + + <p>The little cluster of white, thatched houses stood close + together for company, but discreetly turned their faces away from + one another so that no man overlooked or interfered with his + neighbour.</p> + + <p>Gard found himself in a large room which occupied the whole + middle portion of the house and served as kitchen and common room + for the family.</p> + + <p>The floor was of trodden earth—hard and dry as cement, + with a strip of boarding round the sides and in front of the + fire-place. Heavy oaken beams ran across the roof from which + depended a great hanging rack littered with all kinds of + household odds and ends. Along the beams of the roof on hooks + hung two long guns. One end of the room was occupied by a huge + fire-place, in one corner of which stood a new iron cooking + range, and alongside it a heap of white ashes and some + smouldering sticks of gorse under a big black iron pot filled the + room with the fragrance of wood smoke. In the opposite side of + the fire-place was an iron door closing the great baking oven, + and above it ran a wide mantel-shelf on which stood china dogs + and glass rolling-pins and a couple of lamps.</p> + + <p>A well-scrubbed white wooden table was set ready for supper. + On a very ancient-looking black oak stand—cupboard below + and shelves above—was ranged a vast assortment of crockery + ware, and on the walls hung potbellied metal jugs and cans which + shone like silver.</p> + + <p>Two doors led to the other rooms of the house, one of them + wide open.</p> + + <p>One corner of the room was occupied by a great wooden bin + eight feet square, filled with dried bracken. On the wide flat + side, which looked like a form, a woman and a girl were sitting + when the two men entered.</p> + + <p>Hamon introduced them briefly as his wife and daughter, and, + comely women as Gard had been accustomed to in his own country of + Cornwall, there was something about these two, and especially + about the younger of the two, which made him of a sudden more + than satisfied with the somewhat doubtful venture to which he had + bound himself—set a sudden homely warmth in his heart, and + made him feel the richer for being there—made him, in fact, + glad that he had come.</p> + + <p>And yet there was nothing in their reception of him that + justified the feeling.</p> + + <p>They nodded, indeed, in answer to his bow, but neither their + faces nor their manner showed any special joy at his coming.</p> + + <p>But that made no difference to him. They were there, and the + mere sight of the girl's fine mobile face and large dark blue + eyes was a thing to be grateful for.</p> + + <p>"You'll be wanting your supper," said Hamon.</p> + + <p>"At your own time, please," said the young man, looking + towards Mrs. Hamon. "I am really not very hungry"—though + truth to tell he well might have been, for the food on the brig + had left much to be desired even to one who had been a sailorman + himself.</p> + + <p>"It is our usual time," said Mrs. Hamon, "and it is all ready. + Will you please to sit there."</p> + + <p>At the sound of the chairs a boy of fourteen came quietly in + and slipped into his seat.</p> + + <p>His sister had gone off with a portion on a plate through the + open door.</p> + + <p>Gard was surprised to find himself hoping it was not her + custom to take her meals in private, and was relieved when she + came back presently without the plate and sat down by her + brother.</p> + + <p>"Ah, you, Bernel, as soon as you've done your supper run over + and tell Mr. Le Pelley that his white stallion is on our common, + and he'd better send for him."</p> + + <p>"I'll ride him home," said the boy exultingly.</p> + + <p>"No you won't, Bern," said his sister quickly. "He's not safe. + You know what an awkward beast he is at times, and you could + never get him across the Coupée."</p> + + <p>"Pooh! I'd ride him across any day."</p> + + <p>"Promise me you won't," she said, with a hand on his arm.</p> + + <p>"Oh, well, if you say so," he grumbled. "I could manage him + all right though."</p> + + <p>Just then the doorway darkened and two young men entered, and + threw their caps on the green bed, and sat down with an awkward + nod of greeting to the company in general.</p> + + <p>"My son Tom," said Mr. Hamon, and Tom jerked another awkward + nod towards the stranger. "And Peter Mauger"—Peter repeated + the performance, more shyly and awkwardly even than Tom, from a + variety of reasons.</p> + + <p>Tom was at home, and he had not even been invited—except + by Tom. And strangers always made him shy. And then there was + Nance, with her great eyes fixed on him, he knew, though he had + not dared to look straight at her.</p> + + <p>And then the stranger had an air about him—it was hard + to say of what, but it made Peter Mauger and Tom conscious of + personal uncouthness, and of a desire to get up and go out and + wash their hands and have a shave.</p> + + <p>Gard, they knew, was the new captain of the mine, chosen by + the managers of the company for his experience with men, and he + looked as if he had been accustomed to order them about.</p> + + <p>His eyes were dark and keen, his face full of energy. Being + clean-shaven his age was doubtful. He might be twenty-five or + forty. Nance, in her first quick comprehensive glance, had + wondered which.</p> + + <p>He stood close upon six feet and was broad-chested and + square-shouldered. A good figure of a man, clean and upstanding, + and with no nonsense about him. A capable-looking man in every + respect, and if his manner was quiet and retiring, there was that + about him which suggested the possibility of explosion if + occasion arose.</p> + + <p>Not that the Hamon family as a whole, or any member of it, + would have put the matter quite in that way to itself, or + herself. But that, vaguely, was the impression produced upon + them—an impression of uprightness, intelligence, and + reserved strength—and the more strongly, perhaps, because + of late these characteristics had been somewhat overshadowed in + the Island by the greed of gain and love of display engendered by + the opening of the mines.</p> + + <p>To old Tom Hamon his coming was wholly welcome. It + foreshadowed a strong and more energetic development of the mines + and the speedier realization of his most earnest desires.</p> + + <p>To Mrs. Hamon it meant some extra household work, which she + would gladly undertake since it was her husband's wish to have + the stranger live with them, though in his absorption by the + mines she had no sympathy whatever.</p> + + <p>Nance looked upon him merely as a part of the mines, and + therefore to be detested along with the noisy engine-house, the + pumps, the damp and dirty miners, and all the rest of + it—the coming of which had so completely spoiled her + much-loved Sark.</p> + + <p>Tom disliked him because he made him feel small and boorish, + and of a commoner make. And feelings such as that inevitably try + to disprove themselves by noisy self-assertion.</p> + + <p>Accordingly Tom—after various jocular remarks in patois + to Peter, who would have laughed at them had he dared, but, + knowing Nance's feelings towards her brother was not sure how she + would take it—loudly and provocatively to Gard—</p> + + <p>"Expect to make them mines pay, monsieur?"</p> + + <p>"Well, I hope so. But it's too soon to express an opinion till + I've seen them."</p> + + <p>"They put a lot of money in, and they get a lot of dirt out, + but one does not hear much of any silver."</p> + + <p>"Sometimes the deepest mines prove the best in the end."</p> + + <p>"And as long as there's anybody to pay for it I suppose you go + on digging."</p> + + <p>"If I thought the mines had petered out—"</p> + + <p>"Eh?" said Peter, and then coughed to hide his confusion when + they all looked at him.</p> + + <p>"I should of course advise the owners to stop work and sink no + more money."</p> + + <p>"It'll be a bad day for Sark when that happens," said old Tom. + "But it's not going to happen. The silver's there all right. It + only wants getting out."</p> + + <p>"If it's there we'll certainly get it out," said Gard, and + although he said it quietly enough, old Tom felt much better + about things in general.</p> + + <p>"You're the man for us," he said heartily. "We'll all be rich + before we die yet."</p> + + <p>"Depends when we die," growled Tom—in which + observation—obvious as it was—there was undoubtedly + much truth. And then, his little suggestion of provocation having + broken like ripples on Gard's imperturbability, he turned on + Peter and tried to stir him up.</p> + + <p>"You don't get on any too fast with your making up to la + garche, mon gars," he said in the patois again.</p> + + <p>"Aw—Tom!" remonstrated Peter, very red in the face at + this ruthless laying bare of his approaches.</p> + + <p>"Get ahead, man! Put your arm round her neck and give her a + kiss. That's the way to fetch 'em."</p> + + <p>At which Nance jumped up with fiery face and sparks in her + eyes and left the room, and Gard, who understood no word of what + had passed, yet understood without possibility of doubt that + Tom's speech had been mortally offensive to his sister, and set + him down in his own mind as of low esteem and boorish + disposition.</p> + + <p>As for Peter, to whom such advice was as useless as the act + would have been impossible at that stage of the proceedings, he + was almost as much upset as Nance herself. He got up with a + shamefaced—</p> + + <p>"Aw, Tom, boy, that was not good of you," and made for his + hat, while Tom sat with a broad grin at the result of his + delicate diplomacy, and Gard's great regret was that it was not + possible for him to take the hulking fellow by the neck and + bundle him out of doors.</p> + + <p>Old Tom made some sharp remark to his son, who replied in + kind; Mrs. Hamon sat quietly aloof, as she always did when Tom + and his father got to words, and Bernel made play with his + supper, as though such matters were of too common occurrence to + call for any special attention on his part.</p> + + <p>Then Nance's face framed in a black sun-bonnet gleamed in at + the outer door.</p> + + <p>"Come along, Bern, and we'll go and tell the Seigneur where + his white horse is," and she disappeared, and Bernel, having + polished off everything within reach, got up and followed + her.</p> + + <p>"Will you please to take a look at the mines to-night?" asked + old Tom of his guest, anxious to interest him in the work as + speedily as possible.</p> + + <p>"We might take a bit of a walk, and you can tell me all you + will about things. But I don't take hold till the first of the + month, and I don't want to interfere until I have a right to. I + suppose my baggage will be coming up?"</p> + + <p>"Ach, yes! Tom, you take the cart and bring Mr. Gard's things + up. They are lying on the quay down there. Then we will go along, + if you please!"</p> + + <p>Old Tom marched him through the wonderful amber twilight to + the summit of the bluff behind the engine-house—whence Gard + could just make out his box and carpet-bag still lying on the + quay below. And all the way the old man was volubly explaining + the many changes necessary, in his opinion, to bring the business + to a paying basis. All which information Gard accepted for + testing purposes, but gathered from the total the fact that + through ill health on the part of the departing captain, the + ropes all round had got slack and that the tightening of them + would be a matter of no little delicacy and difficulty.</p> + + <p>Sark men, Mr. Hamon explained, were very free and independent, + and hated to be driven. They did piecework—so much per + fathom, and were constitutionally, he admitted, a bit more + particular as to the so much than as to the fathom. While the + Cornish and Welsh men, receiving weekly wages, had also grown + slack and did far less work than they did at first and than they + might, could, and should do.</p> + + <p>"But," said old Tom frankly, scratching his head, "I don't + know's I'd like the job myself. Your men are quiet enough to look + at, but they can boil over when they're put to it. And our + men—well, they're Sark, and there's more'n a bit of the + devil in them."</p> + + <p>"I must get things round bit by bit," said Gard quietly. "It + never pays to make a fuss and bustle men. Softly does it."</p> + + <p>"I'm thinking you can do it if any man can."</p> + + <p>"I'll have a good try any way."</p> + + <p>"Whereabouts does the Seigneur live?" he asked presently, and + inconsequently as it seemed, but following out a train of thought + of his own which needed no guessing at.</p> + + <p>"The Seigneur? Over there in Sark—across the + Coupée."</p> + + <p>"What's the Coupée?"</p> + + <p>"The Coupée?—Mon Gyu!"—at such colossal + ignorance—"Why, ...the Coupée's the + Coupée.... Come along, then. Maybe you can get a look at + it before it's too dark."</p> + + <p>They had got quite out of sound of the clanking engine, and + were travelling a well-made road, when their attention was drawn + to a lively struggle proceeding on the common between the road + and the cliff.</p> + + <p>Tom, setting out after the troubled Peter, had caught sight of + the Seigneur's white horse and had forthwith decided to take him + home. Peter, agreeing that it was a piece of neighbourliness + which the Seigneur would appreciate, had turned back to give his + assistance.</p> + + <p>By some cajolery they had managed to slip a halter with a + special length of rope over the wary white head, and there for + the moment matters hung. For the white horse, with his forelegs + firmly planted, dragged at one end of the rope and the two men at + the other, and the issue remained in doubt.</p> + + <p>The doubt, however, was suddenly solved by the white horse + deciding on more active measures. He swung his great head to one + side, dragged the men off their feet and started off at a gallop, + they hanging on as best they could.</p> + + <p>Old Tom and Gard set off after them to see the end of the + matter, and suddenly, as the roadway dipped between high banks + and became a hollow way, the white beast gave a shrill squeal, + flung up his heels, jerked himself free, and vanished like a + streak of light into the darkness of the lofty bank in front.</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu!" cried old Tom, and sped up the bank to see the + end.</p> + + <p>But the white horse knew his way and had no fear. They were + just in time to hear the rattle of his hoofs, as he disappeared + with a final shrill defiance into the outer darkness on the + further side of a mighty gulf, while a stone dislodged by his + flying feet went clattering down into invisible depths.</p> + + <p>"He's done it," panted old Tom, while Gard gazed with + something like awe at the narrow pathway, wavering across from + side to side of the great abyss, out of which rose the growl of + the sea.</p> + + <p>"What's this?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Coupée. It's a wonder he managed it. The path slipped + in the winter and it's narrow in places."</p> + + <p>"And do people cross it in the dark?" asked Gard, thinking of + the girl and boy who had gone to see the Seigneur.</p> + + <p>"Och yes! It is not bad when you're used to it. Come and see!" + and he led the way back across the common to the road.</p> + + <p>Gard walked cautiously behind him as he went across the + crumbling white pathway with the carelessness of custom, and, + sailor as he had been, he was not sorry when the other side was + reached, and he could stand in the security of the cutting and + look back, and down into the gulf where the white waves foamed + and growled among the boulders three hundred feet below.</p> + + <p>"I've seen a many as did not care to cross that, first time + they saw it," said old Tom with a chuckle.</p> + + <p>"Well, I'm not surprised at that. It's apt to make one's head + spin."</p> + + <p>"I brought captain of brig up here and he wouldn't put a foot + on it. Not for five hundred pounds, he said."</p> + + <p>"It would have taken more than five hundred pounds to piece + him together if he'd tumbled down there."</p> + + <p>"That's so."</p> + + <p>A young moon, and a clear sky still rarely light and lofty in + the amber after-glow, gave them a safe passage back.</p> + + <p>When they reached the house among the trees, Gard bethought + him of his belongings.</p> + + <p>"And my things from the quay?" he suggested.</p> + + <p>"G'zammin! That boy has forgotten all about them, I'll be + bound. I'll take the cart down myself."</p> + + <p>"I'll go with you."</p> + + <p>When they got back with the box and bag, which no one had + touched since they were dropped on to the platform four hours + before, they found that Nance and Bernel had got home and gone + off to bed, having taken advantage of being across in Sark to + call on some of their friends there.</p> + + <p>Gard wondered how they would have fared if they had happened + to be on the Coupée when the white horse went thundering + across.</p> + + <p>He dreamed that night that he was cautiously treading an + endless white path that swung up and down in the darkness like a + piece of ribbon in a breeze. And a great white horse came + plunging at him out of the darkness, and just as he gave himself + up for lost, a sweet firm face in a black sun-bonnet appeared + suddenly in front of him, and the white horse squealed and leaped + over them and disappeared, while the stones he had displaced went + rattling down into the depths below.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + <h3>HOW NANCE SHONE THROUGH HER MODEST VEILING</h3> + + <p>As soon as the old captain's time was up, Gard took up his + work in the mines with energetic hopefulness.</p> + + <p>His hopefulness was unbounded. His energy he tempered with all + the tact and discretion his knowledge of men, and his experience + in handling them, had taught him.</p> + + <p>His father had been lost at sea the year after his son was + born. His mother, a good and God-fearing woman, had strained + every nerve to give her boy an education. She died when Stephen + was fourteen. He took to his father's calling and had followed it + with a certain success for ten years, by which time he had + attained the position of first mate.</p> + + <p>Then the owner of the Botallack Mine, in Cornwall, having come + across him in the way of business, and been struck by his + intelligence and aptitude, induced him by a lucrative appointment + to try his luck on land.</p> + + <p>The managers of the Sark Mines, seeking a special man for + somewhat special circumstances, had applied to Botallack for + assistance, and Stephen Gard came to Sark as the representative + of many hopes which, so far, had been somewhat lacking in + results.</p> + + <p>But, as old Tom Hamon had predicted, he very soon found that + he had laid his hand to no easy plough.</p> + + <p>The Sark men were characteristically difficult, and made the + difficulty greater by not understanding him—or declining to + understand, which came to the same thing—when he laid down + his ideas and endeavoured to bring them to his ways.</p> + + <p>Some, without doubt, had no English, and their patois was + quite beyond him. Others could understand him an they would, but + deliberately chose not to—partly from a conservative + objection to any change whatever, and partly from an idea that he + had been imported for the purpose of driving them, and driving is + the last thing a Sark man will submit to.</p> + + <p>Old Tom Hamon, and a few others who had a financial interest + in the mines, assisted him all they could, in hopes of thereby + assisting themselves, but they were few.</p> + + <p>As for the Cornishmen and Welshmen, the success or failure of + the Sark Mines mattered little to them. There was always mining + going on somewhere and competent men were always in demand. They + were paid so much a week, small output or large, and without a + doubt the small output entailed less labour than the large. They + naturally regarded with no great favour the man whose present aim + in life it was to ensure the largest output possible.</p> + + <p>And so Gard found himself confronted by many difficulties, + and, moreover, and greatly to the troubling of his mind, found + himself looked upon as a dictator and an interloper by the men + whom he had hoped to benefit.</p> + + <p>Concerning the mines themselves he was not called upon for an + opinion. The managers had satisfied themselves as to the presence + of silver. If his opinion had been asked it would have confirmed + them. But all he had to do was to follow the veins and win the + ore in paying quantities, and he found himself handicapped on + every hand by the obstinacy of his men.</p> + + <p>Outside business matters he was very well satisfied with his + surroundings.</p> + + <p>In such spare time as he had, he wandered over the Island with + eager, open eyes, marvelling at its wonders and enjoying its + natural beauties with rare delight.</p> + + <p>The great granite cliffs, with their deep indentations and + stimulating caves and crannies; the shimmering blue and green + sea, with its long slow heave which rushed in foam and tumult up + the rock-pools and gullies; the softer beauties of rounded down + and flower-and fern-clad slopes honeycombed with rabbit holes; + the little sea-gardens teeming with novel life; in all these he + found his resource and a certain consolation for his + loneliness.</p> + + <p>And in the Hamon household he found much to interest him and + not a little ground for speculation.</p> + + <p>Old Mrs. Hamon—Grannie—had promptly ordered him in + for inspection, and, after prolonged and careful observation from + the interior of the black sun-bonnet, had been understood to + approve him, since she said nothing to the contrary.</p> + + <p>It took him some time to arrive at the correct relationship + between young Tom and Nance and Bernel, for it seemed quite + incredible that fruit so diverse should spring from one parent + stem.</p> + + <p>For Tom was all that was rough and boorish—rude to Mrs. + Hamon, coarse, and at times overbearing to Nance and Bernel, to + such an extent, indeed, that more than once Gard had difficulty + in remembering that he himself was only a visitor on sufferance + and not entitled to interfere in such intimate family + matters.</p> + + <p>Tom was not slow to perceive this, and in consequence set + himself deliberately to provoke it by behaviour even more + outrageous than usual. Time and again Gard would have rejoiced to + take him outside and express his feelings to their fullest + satisfaction.</p> + + <p>With Mrs. Hamon and Bernel he was on the most friendly + footing, his undisguised sentiments in the matter of Tom + commending him to them decisively.</p> + + <p>But with Nance he made no headway whatever.</p> + + <p>It was an absolutely new sensation to him, and a satisfaction + the meaning of which he had not yet fully gauged, to be living + under the same roof with a girl such as this. He found himself + listening for her voice outside and the sound of her feet, and + learned almost at once to distinguish between the clatter of her + wooden pattens and any one else's when she was busy in the yard + or barns.</p> + + <p>Even though she held him at coolest arm's length, and repelled + any slightest attempt at abridgment of the distance, he still + rejoiced in the sight of her and found the world good because of + her presence in it.</p> + + <p>He did not understand her feeling about him in the least. He + did not know that she had had to give up her room for + him—that she detested the mines and everything tainted by + them, and himself as head and forefront of the offence—that + she regarded him as an outsider and a foreigner and therefore + quite out of place in Sark. He only knew that he saw very little + of her and would have liked to see a great deal more.</p> + + <p>The very reserve of her treatment of himself—one might + even say her passive endurance of him—served but to + stimulate within him the wish to overcome it. The attraction of + indifference is a distinct force in life.</p> + + <p>There was something so trim and neat and altogether + captivating to him in the slim energetic figure, in its short + blue skirts and print jacket, as it whisked to and fro, inside + and out, on its multifarious duties, and still more in the sweet, + serious face, glimmering coyly in the shadow of the great + sun-bonnet and always moulded to a fine, but, as it seemed to + him, a somewhat unnatural gravity in his company.</p> + + <p>And yet he was quite sure she could be very much otherwise + when she would. For he had heard her singing over her work, and + laughing merrily with Bernel; and her face, sweet as it was in + its repression, seemed to him more fitted for smiles and laughter + and joyousness.</p> + + <p>He saw, of course, that brother Tom was a constant source of + annoyance to them all, but especially to her, and his blood + boiled impotently on her account.</p> + + <p>He carried with him—as a delightful memory of her, + though not without its cloud—the pretty picture she made + when he came upon her one day in the orchard, milking—for, + strictly as the Sabbath may be observed, cows must still be + milked on a Sunday, not being endowed manna-like, with the gift + of miraculous double production on a Saturday.</p> + + <p>Her head was pressed into her favourite beast's side, and she + was crooning soothingly to it as the white jets ping-panged into + the frothing pail, and he stood for a moment watching her + unseen.</p> + + <p>Then the cow slowly turned her head towards him, considered + him gravely for a moment, decided he was unnecessary and whisked + her tail impatiently. Nance's lullaby stopped, she looked round + with a reproving frown, and he went silently on his way.</p> + + <p>It was another Sunday afternoon that, as he lay in the bracken + on the slope of a headland, he saw two slim figures racing down a + bare slope on the opposite side of a wide blue gulf, with joyous + chatter, and recognized Nance and Bernel.</p> + + <p>They disappeared and he felt lonely. Then they came picking + their way round a black spur below, and stood for a minute or two + looking down at something beneath them. Which something he + presently discovered must be a pool of size among the rocks, for + after a brief retiral, Nance behind a boulder and Bernel into a + black hollow, they came out again, she lightly clad in fluttering + white and Bernel in nothing at all, and with a shout of delight + dived out of sight into the pool below.</p> + + <p>He could hear their shouts and laughter echoed back by the + huge overhanging rocks. He saw them climb out again and sit + sunning themselves on the grey ledge like a pair of sea-birds, + and Nance's exiguous white garment no longer fluttered in the + breeze.</p> + + <p>Then in they went again, and again, and again, till, tiring of + the limits of the pool—huge as he afterwards found it to + be—they crept over the barnacled rocks to the sea, and + flung themselves fearlessly in, and came ploughing through it + towards his headland. And he shrank still lower among the + bracken, for though he had watched the distant little figure in + white with a slight sense of sacrilege, and absolutely no sense + of impropriety but only of enjoyment, he would not for all he was + worth have had her know that he had watched at all, since he + could imagine how she would resent it.</p> + + <p>Nevertheless, these unconscious revelations of her real self + were to him as jewels of price, and he treasured the memory of + them accordingly.</p> + + <p>He watched them swim back and disappear among the rocks, and + presently go merrily up the bare slope again; and he lay long in + the bracken, scarce daring to move, and when he did, he crept + away warily, as one guilty of a trespass.</p> + + <p>And glad he was that he had done so, for he had proof of her + feeling that same night at supper.</p> + + <p>Peter Mauger came sheepishly in again with Tom, and Tom, when + he had satisfied the edge of his hunger, must wax facetious in + his brotherly way.</p> + + <p>"Peter and me was sitting among the rocks over against big + pool s'afternoon and we saw things"—with a grin.</p> + + <p>"Aw, Tom!" deprecated Peter in red confusion.</p> + + <p>"An' Peter, he said he never seen anything so pretty in all + his life as—"</p> + + <p>"Aw now, Tom, you're a liar! I never said anything about + it."</p> + + <p>"You thought it, or your face was liar too, my boy. Like a dog + after a rabbit it was."</p> + + <p>"It was just like you both to lie watching," flamed Nance. "If + you'd both go and jump into the sea every day you'd be a great + deal nicer than you are; and if you'd stop there it would be a + great deal nicer for us."</p> + + <p>"Aw—Nance!" from Peter, and a great guffaw from Tom, + while Gard devoted himself guiltily to his plate.</p> + + <p>"You looked nice before you went in," chuckled Tom, who never + knew when to stop, "but you looked a sight nicer when you came + out and sat on rocks with it all stuck to you—"</p> + + <p>"You're a—a—a disgusting thing, Tom Hamon, and + you're just as bad, Peter Mauger!" and she looked as if she would + have flown at them, but, instead, jumped up and flung out of the + room.</p> + + <p>Gard's innate honesty would not permit him to take up the + cudgels this time. Inwardly he felt himself involved in her + condemnation, though none but himself knew it.</p> + + <p>But he had taken at times to glowering at Tom, when his + rudeness passed bounds, in a way which made that young man at + once uncomfortable and angry, and at times provoked him to + clownish attempts at reprisal.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon bore with the black sheep quietly, since nothing + else was possible to her, though her annoyance and distress were + visible enough.</p> + + <p>Old Tom was completely obsessed with his visions of wealth + ever just beyond the point of his pick. He toiled long hours in + the damp darknesses below seas, with the sounds of crashing waves + and rolling boulders close above him, and at times threateningly + audible through the stratum of rocks between; and when he did + appear at meals he was too weary to trouble about anything beyond + the immediate satisfaction of his needs. Besides, young Tom had + long since proved his strength equal to his father's, and + remonstrance or rebuke would have produced no effect.</p> + + <p>As to Bernel, he was only a boy as yet, but he was Nance's boy + and all she would have wished him.</p> + + <p>In time he would grow up and be a match for Tom, and meanwhile + she would see to it that he grew up as different from Tom in + every respect as it was possible for a boy to be.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + <h3>HOW GRANNIE SCHEMED SCHEMES</h3> + + <p>Stephen Gard's experience of women had been small.</p> + + <p>His mother had been everything to him till she died, when he + was fourteen, and he went to sea.</p> + + <p>When she was gone, that which she had put into him remained, + and kept him clear of many of the snares to which the life of the + young sailorman is peculiarly liable.</p> + + <p>When he attained a position of responsibility he had had no + time for anything else. And so, of his own experience, he knew + little of women and their ways.</p> + + <p>Less, indeed, than Nance knew of men and their ways. And that + was not very much and tended chiefly to scorn and + dissatisfaction, seeing that her knowledge was gleaned almost + entirely from her experiences of Tom and Peter Mauger. Her father + was, of course, her father, and on somewhat of a different plane + from other men.</p> + + <p>And so, if Nance was a wonder and a revelation to Gard, Gard + was no less of, at all events, a novelty in the way of mankind to + Nance.</p> + + <p>His quiet bearing and good manners, after a life-long course + of Tom, had a distinct attraction for her.</p> + + <p>That he could burst into flame if occasion required, she was + convinced. For, more than once, out of the corner of her eye and + round the edge of her sun-bonnet, she had caught his thunderous + looks of disgust at some of Tom's carryings-on.</p> + + <p>She would, perhaps, have been ashamed to confess it but, + somewhere down in her heart, she rather hoped, sooner or later, + to see his lightning as well. It would be worth seeing, and she + was inclined to think it would be good for Tom—and the rest + of the family.</p> + + <p>For Gard looked as if he could give a good account of himself + in case of need. His well-built, tight-knit figure gave one the + impression that he was even stronger than he looked.</p> + + <p>If only he had been a Sark man and had nothing to do with + those horrid mines! But all her greatest dislikes met in him, and + she could not bring herself to the point of relaxing one iota in + these matters of which he was unfortunately and unconsciously + guilty.</p> + + <p>The state of affairs at the mines improved not one whit as the + months dragged on. There was a smouldering core of discontent + which might break into flame at any moment—or into + disastrous explosion if the necessary element were added.</p> + + <p>Old Tom did his best, and stood loyally by the new captain and + the interests of the mine and himself. But he was in a minority + and could so far do no more than oppose vehement talk to vehement + talk, and that, as a rule, is much like pouring oil on roaring + flames.</p> + + <p>Not many of those who were shareholders in the mine were also + workers in it, and the workers met constantly at the house of a + neighbour, who had turned his kitchen to an undomestic but + profitable purpose by supplying drink to the miners at what + seemed to the English and Welshmen ridiculously low prices.</p> + + <p>In that kitchen the new captain and his new methods were + vehemently discussed and handled roughly enough—in words. + And hot words and the thoughts they excite, and wild thoughts and + the words they find vent in, are at times the breeders of deeds + that were better left undone.</p> + + <p>To all financially interested in the mines the need for + strictest economy and fullest efficiency was patent enough. It + was still a case of faith and hope—a case of continual + putting in of work and money, and, so far, of getting little + out—except the dross which intervened between them and + their highest hopes.</p> + + <p>There was silver there without a doubt, and the many thin + veins they came across lured them on with constant hope of mighty + pockets and deposits of which these were but the flying + indications.</p> + + <p>And all putting in and getting nothing out results in + stressful times, in business ventures as in the case of + individuals. The great shafts sank deeper and deeper, the + galleries branched out far under the sea, and there was a + constant call for more and more money, lest that already sunk + should be lost.</p> + + <p>Mr. Hamon, disappointed in his view of raising money on the + farm by Tom's obstinacy, in the bitterness of his spirit and the + urgent necessities of the mines, conceived a new idea which, if + he was able to carry it out, would serve the double purpose of + satisfying his own needs at the recalcitrant Tom's expense.</p> + + <p>"I must have more money for the mines," he said to his wife + one day in private. "I'm thinking of selling the farm."</p> + + <p>"Selling the farm?" gasped Mrs. Hamon, doubtful of her own + hearing. For selling the farm is the very last resource of the + utterly unfortunate. "Aye, selling the farm. Why not? It'll all + come back twenty times over when we strike the pockets, and then + we can live where we will, or we can go across to Guernsey, or to + England if you like."</p> + + <p>But Mrs. Hamon was silent and full of thought. She had no + desire for wealth, and still less to live in Guernsey or in + England, or anywhere in the world but Sark.</p> + + <p>He had been a good husband to her on the whole, until this + silver craze absorbed him. She had never found it necessary to + counter his wishes before. But this idea of selling the farm cut + to the very roots of her life.</p> + + <p>For Nance's sake and Bernel's she must oppose it with all that + was in her. If the farm were sold the money would all go into + those gaping black mouths and bottomless pits at Port Gorey. The + home would be broken up—an end of all things. It must not + be.</p> + + <p>"I should think many times before selling the farm if I were + you," she said quietly, and left it there for the moment.</p> + + <p>But old Tom, having made up his mind, and the necessities of + the case pressing, lost no time over the matter.</p> + + <p>"I've been speaking to John Guille about that business," he + said, next day, in a confidently casual way.</p> + + <p>"About—?"</p> + + <p>"About the farm. He'll give me six hundred pounds for it and + take the stock at what it's worth, and he's willing we should + stop on as tenants at fifty pounds a year rent."</p> + + <p>His wife was ominously silent. He glanced at her + doubtfully.</p> + + <p>"I shall stop on as tenant for the present and Tom can go on + working it. When we reach the silver, and the money begins to + come back, we can decide what to do afterwards."</p> + + <p>Still his wife said nothing, but her face was white and set. + It was hard for her to put herself in opposition to him, but here + she found it necessary. He was going too far.</p> + + <p>It was only when the silence had grown ominous and painful, + that she said, slowly and with difficulty—</p> + + <p>"I'm sorry to look like going against you, Tom, but I can't + see it right you should sell the farm."</p> + + <p>"It'll make no difference to you and the young ones. I'll see + to that."</p> + + <p>"It's not right and you mustn't do it."</p> + + <p>"Mustn't do it!—And it's as good as done!"</p> + + <p>"It can't be done until your mother and I consent, and we + can't see it's a right thing to do."</p> + + <p>"Can't you see that you're only saving the farm for Tom?" he + argued wrathfully, bottling his anger as well as he could. "It's + nothing to you and the young ones in any case."</p> + + <p>"I know, but all the same it's not right. If it was to buy + another farm it would be different, for you could leave it as you + choose. But to throw away the money on those mines—"</p> + + <p>This was a lapse from diplomacy and old Tom resented it.</p> + + <p>"Throw the money away!" he shouted, casting all restraint to + the winds. "Who's going to throw the money away? It's like you + women. You never can see beyond the ends of your noses. I'll tell + you what I'll do—I'll pay you out your dower right in hard + cash. Will that satisfy you?"</p> + + <p>If he died she would have a life interest in one-third of the + farm, but could not, of course, will it to Nance or Bernel. If he + sold the farm and paid her her lawful third in cash, she could do + what she chose with it. It was therefore distinctly to her own + interest to fall in with his plan.</p> + + <p>But, dearly as she would have liked to make some provision, + however small, for Nance and Bernel, her whole Sark soul was up + in arms against the idea of selling the farm.</p> + + <p>It would feel like a break-up of life. Nothing, she was sure, + would ever be the same again.</p> + + <p>"It's not right," she said simply.</p> + + <p>"You're a fool—" and then the look on her quiet + face—such a look as she might have worn if he had struck + her—penetrated the storm-cloud of his anger. He remembered + her years of wifely patience and faithful service, "—a + foolish woman. A Sark wife should know which side of her bread + the butter is on. Can't you see—"</p> + + <p>"I know all that, Tom, but I hope you'll give up this notion + of selling the farm. Your mother feels just as I do about it. + We've talked it over—"</p> + + <p>"I'll talk to her," and he went in at once to the old lady's + room.</p> + + <p>But Grannie gave him no time for argument.</p> + + <p>"It's you's the fool, Tom," she said decisively, as he crossed + the threshold. "There's not enough silver in Sark to make a plate + for your coffin."</p> + + <p>"I brought out more'n enough to make your plate and mine, + myself to-day," he said triumphantly.</p> + + <p>"Ah, bah! You'd have done better for yourself and for Sark if + you'd let it lie."</p> + + <p>"I'd have done better still if I'd got twice as much."</p> + + <p>"If the good God set silver inside Sark, it was because He + thought it was the best place for it, and it's not for the likes + of you to be trying to get it out."</p> + + <p>"What's it there for if it's not to be got out?"</p> + + <p>"You mark me, Tom Hamon, no good will come of all this + upsetting and digging out the insides of the + Island—nenni-gia!"</p> + + <p>"Pergui, mother, where do you think all the silver and gold in + the world came from?"</p> + + <p>"It didn't come out of our Sark rocks any way, mon gars."</p> + + <p>"Good thing for us if it had, ma fé! But, see you here, + mother, if I sell the farm it's not you and Nance that need + trouble. If I pay out your dowers in hard cash you're both of you + better off than you are now, and I'm better off too. It's only + Tom could complain, and—"</p> + + <p>"It's hard on the lad."</p> + + <p>"Bidemme, it's no more than he deserves for his goings-on! + Maybe it'll do him good to have to work for his living."</p> + + <p>"And you would do that to get your bit more money to throw + into those big holes?"</p> + + <p>"Never you mind me. I'll take care of myself, and we'll see + who's wisest in the end. Now, will you agree to it?"</p> + + <p>"I'll talk it over with Nancy again," and the big black + sun-bonnet nodded with sapient significance. "Send her to + me."</p> + + <p>"It's from you I got my good sense," said old Tom approvingly, + and went off in search of his wife, while the clever old lady + pondered deep schemes.</p> + + <p>"Here's the way of it, Nancy," she said, when Mrs. Hamon came + in. "He's crazy on these silver mines, and he's willing to pay + out our dowers, yours and mine, so that he may throw the rest + into the big holes at Port Gorey. Ch'est b'en! Your money and + mine take more than half of what he gets. If you'll put yours to + mine I'll make up the difference from what I've saved, and we'll + retraite the farm, and it shall go to Nance and Bernel when the + time comes."</p> + + <p>"I can't help thinking it's rather hard on Tom," suggested + Mrs. Hamon, with less vigour than before.</p> + + <p>The idea appealed strongly to her maternal feelings and she + had suffered much from Tom; still her instinct for right was + there and was not to be stifled with a word.</p> + + <p>"If you feel so when the time comes we could divide it among + them, and till then Tom would have to behave himself," said the + wily old lady, with a chuckle.</p> + + <p>That again appealed strongly to Mrs. Hamon.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I think I would agree to that," she said, after thinking + it all over.</p> + + <p>All things considered, Grannie's scheme was an excellent one + and worthy of her.</p> + + <p>By a curious anomaly of Sark law, though a man may not + mortgage his property without the consent of his + next-in-succession, he can sell it outright and do what he + chooses with the proceeds. His wife has a dower right of + one-third of both real and personal estate, into which she enters + upon his death. The right, however, is there while he still + lives, and must be taken into consideration in any sale of the + property.</p> + + <p>All property is sold subject to the "retraite"; in plain + English, no sale is completed for six weeks, and within that time + every member of the seller's family, in due order of succession, + even to the collateral branches, has the right to take over, or + withdraw, the property at the same price as has been agreed upon, + paying in addition to the Seigneur the trézième or + thirteenth part of the price, as by law provided.</p> + + <p>If Grannie's scheme were carried out, therefore, she and Mrs. + Hamon would become owners of the farm. Tom would be there on + sufferance and might be kept within bounds or kicked out. Old Tom + would have something more to throw into the holes at Port Gorey. + And Nance and Bernel could be adequately provided for. An + excellent scheme, therefore, for all concerned—except young + Tom, who would have to behave himself better than he was in the + habit of doing or suffer the consequences.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Nancy. "I don't see that I'd be doing right by + Nance and Bernel not to agree to that. And if Tom behaves + himself," at which Grannie grunted doubtfully, "he can have his + share when the time comes."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + <h3>HOW GARD FOUGHT GALES AND TOM</h3> + + <p>So far the discussion as to the sale of the farm had been + confined to the elders.</p> + + <p>Young Tom had viewed John Guille's visits to the place with + the lowering suspicion of a bull at a stranger's invasion of his + field. He wondered what was going on and surmised that it was + nothing to his advantage.</p> + + <p>Words had been rare between him and his father since his + refusal to lend himself to a loan on the farm, but his suspicion + got the better of his obstinacy at last.</p> + + <p>"What's John Guille want coming about here so much?" he + demanded bluntly.</p> + + <p>"I suppose he can come if he wants to. He's going to buy the + farm."</p> + + <p>"Going—to—buy—the—farm!... + You—going—to—sell—the—farm—away—from—me?" + roared young Tom, like the bull wounded to the quick.</p> + + <p>"Ouaie, pardi! And why not? You had the chance of saving it + and you wouldn't."</p> + + <p>"If you do it, I'll—"</p> + + <p>"Ouaie! You'll—"</p> + + <p>"I'll—Go'zammin, I'll—I'll—"</p> + + <p>"Unless you're a fool, mon gars, you'll be careful what you + say or do. It'll all come back from the mines and you'll have + your share if you behave yourself."</p> + + <p>"—— you and your mines!" + was Tom's valedictory, and he flung away in mortal anger; anger, + too, which, from a Sark point of view, was by no means + unjustified. Selling the estate away from the rightful heir was + disinheritance, a blow below the belt which most testators + reserve until they are safe from reach of bodily harm.</p> + + <p>Tom left the house and cut all connection with his family. He + drifted away like a threatening cloud, and the sun shone out, and + Stephen Gard, with the rest, found greater comfort in his room + than they had ever found in his company.</p> + + <p>So gracious, indeed, did the atmosphere of the house become, + purged of Tom, that Gard, to his great joy, found even Nance not + impossible of approach.</p> + + <p>He had always treated her with extremest deference and + courtesy, respecting, as far as he was able, her evident wish for + nothing but the most distant intercourse.</p> + + <p>But he was such a very great change from Tom!</p> + + <p>She caught his dark eyes fixed on her at times with a look + that reminded her of Helier Baker's black spaniel's, who was a + very close friend of hers. They had neither dog nor cat at + present at La Closerie, both having been scrimped by the silver + mines, when old Tom's first bad attack of economy came on.</p> + + <p>Then, at table, Gard was always quietly on the look-out to + anticipate her wants. That was a refreshing novelty. Even Bernel, + her special crony, thought only of his own requirements when food + stood before him.</p> + + <p>Now and again Gard began to venture on a question direct to + her, generally concerning some bit of the coast he had been + scrambling about, and she found it rather pleasant to be able to + give information about things he did not know to this undoubtedly + clever mine captain.</p> + + <p>So, little by little, he grew into her barest toleration but + apparently nothing more, and was puzzled at her aloofness and + reserve, not understanding at all her bitter feeling against the + mines and everything connected with them.</p> + + <p>The first time he went to church with her and Bernel was a + great white-stone day to him.</p> + + <p>He had gone by himself once every Sunday, and done his best to + follow the service in French, which he was endeavouring to pick + up as best he could. And, if he could only now and again come + across a word he understood, still the being in church and + worshipping with others—even though it was in an unknown + tongue—the sound of the chants and hymns and responses, and + the mild austerity and reverent intonation of the good old Vicar, + all induced a Sabbath feeling in him, and made a welcome change + from the rougher routine of the week, which he would have missed + most sorely.</p> + + <p>On that special afternoon, he had been lying on the green wall + of the old French fort, enjoying that most wonderful view over + the shimmering blue sea, with Herm and Jethou resting on it like + great green velvet cushions, and Guernsey gleaming softly in the + distance, and Brecqhou and the Gouliot Head, and all the black + outlying rocks fringed with creamy foam, till it should be time + to go along to church.</p> + + <p>When he heard voices in the road below and saw Nance and + Bernel, he jumped up on the spur of the moment, and pushed + through the gorse and bracken, and stood waiting for them.</p> + + <p>"Will you let me join you?" he asked, as they came up, fallen + shyly silent.</p> + + <p>"We don't mind," said Bernel, and they went along + together.</p> + + <p>"This always strikes me afresh, each time I see it, as one of + the most extraordinary places I've come across," said Gard, as + they dipped down towards the Coupée.</p> + + <p>"Wait till we're coming home," said Bernel hopefully.</p> + + <p>"Why?"</p> + + <p>"You see those clouds over there? That's + wind—sou'-west—you'll see what it's like after + church."</p> + + <p>"Your gales are as extraordinary as all the rest—and + your tides and currents and sea-mists. I suppose one must be born + here to understand them. We have a fine coast in Cornwall, but I + think you beat us."</p> + + <p>"Of course. This is Sark."</p> + + <p>"And does no one ever tumble over the Coupée in the + dark?"</p> + + <p>"N—o, not often, any way. Nance once saw a man blown + over."</p> + + <p>"That was a bad thing to see," said Gard, turning towards her. + "How was it?"</p> + + <p>"I was coming from school—"</p> + + <p>"All alone?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, all alone. The others had gone on; I'd been kept in, and + it was nearly dark. It was blowing hard, and when I got to the + first rock here I thought it was going to blow me over. So I went + down on my hands and knees and was just going to crawl, when old + Hirzel Mollet came down the other side with a great sheaf of + wheat on his back. He was taking it to the Seigneur for his + tithes. And then in a moment he gave a shout and I saw he was + gone."</p> + + <p>"That was terrible. What did you do?"</p> + + <p>"I screamed and crawled back across the narrow bit to the + cutting, and ran screaming up to the cottages at Plaisance, and + Thomas Carré and his men came running down. But they could + do nothing. They went round in a boat from the Creux, but he was + dead."</p> + + <p>"And how did you get home?"</p> + + <p>"Thomas Carré took me across and I ran on alone, but it + was months before I could forget poor old Hirzel Mollet."</p> + + <p>"I should think so, indeed. That was a terrible thing to + see."</p> + + <p>The opening of the mines, and the influx of the Welsh and + Cornishmen and their wives and children, with their new and + up-to-date ideas of living and dressing, had wrought a great and + not altogether wholesome change upon the original + inhabitants.</p> + + <p>All the week they were hard at work in their fields or their + boats, but on Sunday the lonely lanes leading to Little Sark were + thronged with sightseers, curious to inspect the mines and the + latest odd fashions among the miners' wives and daughters.</p> + + <p>Odd, and extremely useless little parasols, were then the + vogue in England. The miners' women-folk flaunted these before + the dazzled eyes of the Sark girls, and Sark forthwith burst into + flower of many-coloured parasols.</p> + + <p>The mine ladies dressed in printed cottons of strange and + wonderful patterns. The Sark girls must do the same.</p> + + <p>"Tiens!" ejaculated Nance more than once, as they walked. + "Here is Judi Le Masurier with a new pink parasol!—and a + straw bonnet with green strings!—and every day you'll see + her about the fields without so much as a sun-bonnet on! And + Rachel Guille has got a new print dress all red roses and lilac! + Mon Gyu, what are we coming to!"</p> + + <p>She had many such comments and still more unspoken ones. But + Stephen Gard, glancing, whenever he could do so unperceived, at + the trim but plainly-dressed little sun-bonneted figure by his + side, vowed in his heart that the whole of these others rolled + into one were not to be compared with her, and that he would give + all the silver in the mines of Sark to win her appreciation and + regard.</p> + + <p>As they turned the corner at Vauroque, they came suddenly on a + number of men lounging on the low wall, and among them Tom Hamon, + pipe in mouth and hands in pockets.</p> + + <p>As they passed he made some jocular remark in the patois which + provoked a guffaw from the rest, and reddened Nance's face, and + caused Bernel to glance up at Gard and jerk round angrily towards + Tom.</p> + + <p>"What did he say?" asked Gard, stopping.</p> + + <p>But Nance hurried on and he could not but follow.</p> + + <p>"What was it?" he asked again, as he caught up with her.</p> + + <p>"If you please, do not mind him. It was just one of his + rudenesses."</p> + + <p>"They want knocking out of him."</p> + + <p>"He is very rude," said Nance, and they passed the Vicarage + and turned up the stony lane to the church.</p> + + <p>Gard was surprised by the speedy verification of Bernel's + weather forecast. Before the service was over the wind was + howling round the building with the sounds of unleashed furies, + and when they got out it was almost dark.</p> + + <p>They bent to the gale and pressed on, Gard with a + discomforting remembrance that the Coupée lay ahead.</p> + + <p>As they passed Vauroque there seemed a still larger crowd of + loafers at the corner, and again Tom's voice called rudely after + them.</p> + + <p>Gard turned promptly and strode back to where he was sitting + on the wall, dangling his feet in devil-may-care fashion. Tom + jumped down to meet him.</p> + + <p>"Say that again in English, will you?" said Gard angrily.</p> + + <p>"Go to—!" said Tom.</p> + + <p>Then Gard's left fist caught him on the hinge of the right + jaw, and he reeled back among the others who had jumped down to + back him up.</p> + + <p>"Well—? Want any more?" asked Gard stormily.</p> + + <p>"You wait," growled Tom, nursing his jaw, "I'll talk to you + one of these days."</p> + + <p>"Whenever you like, you cur. What you need is a sound + thrashing and a kick over the Coupée."</p> + + <p>To his surprise none of the others joined in. But he did not + know them.</p> + + <p>They might guffaw at Tom's unseemly pleasantries, but they + held him in no high esteem—either for himself or for his + position, since word of the sale of La Closerie had got + about.</p> + + <p>Then they were a hardy crew and held personal courage and + prowess in high respect. And in this matter there could be no + possible doubt as to where the credit lay.</p> + + <p>"Goin' to fight him, Tom?" drawled one, in the patois.</p> + + <p>"—him!" growled Tom, but made no move that way.</p> + + <p>And Gard turned and went over to Nance and Bernel, who were + sheltering from the storm in lee of one of the cottages.</p> + + <p>If he could have seen it, there was a warmer feeling in her + heart for him than had ever been there before—a novel + feeling, too, of respect and confidence such as she had never + entertained towards any other man in all her life.</p> + + <p>For that quick blow had been struck on her behalf, she knew; + and it was vastly strange, and somehow good, to feel that a great + strong man was ready to stand up for her and, if necessary, to + fight for her.</p> + + <p>She pressed silently on against the gale, with an odd little + glow in her heart, and a feeling as though something new had + suddenly come into her life.</p> + + <p>The gale caught them at the Coupée, and the crossing + seemed to Gard not without its risks.</p> + + <p>Bernel bent and ran on through the darkness without a thought + of danger.</p> + + <p>Gard hesitated one moment and Nance stretched a hand to him, + and he took it and went steadily across.</p> + + <p>And, oh, the thrill of that first living touch of her! The + feel of the warm nervous little hand sent a tingling glow through + him such as he had never in his life experienced before. Verily, + a white-stone day this, in spite of winds and darkness!</p> + + <p>The gale howled like ten thousand demons, and the noise of the + waves in Grande Grève came up to them in a ceaseless + savage roar. Gard confessed to himself that, alone, he would + never have dared to face that perilous storm-swept bridge. But + the small hand of a girl made all the difference and he stepped + alongside her without a tremor.</p> + + <p>"B'en, Monsieur Gard, was I right?" shouted Bernel in his ear, + as they stepped within the shelter of the cutting on the farther + side.</p> + + <p>"You were right. It's a terrible place in a gale."</p> + + <p>"You wait," shouted Bernel. "We're not home yet."</p> + + <p>"No more Coupées, any way," and they bent again into + the storm.</p> + + <p>They had not gone more than a hundred yards when, through some + freakish funnelling of the tumbled headlands, the gale gripped + them like a giant playing with pigmies, caught them up, flung + them bodily across the road and held Gard and Bernel pinned and + panting against the green bank, while Nance disappeared over it + into the shrieking darkness.</p> + + <p>"Good heavens!" gasped Gard, fearful lest she should have been + blown over the cliffs, and wriggled himself up under the + ceaseless thrashing of the gale and was whirled off the top into + the field beyond.</p> + + <p>There the pressure was less, and, getting on to his hands and + knees to crawl in search of Nance, he found her close beside him + crouching in the lee of the grassy dyke.</p> + + <p>He crept into shelter beside her, and presently, in the lull + after a fiercer blast than usual, she set off, bent almost + double, and in a moment they were in comparative quiet. Nance + crawled through a gap into the road and they found Bernel waiting + for them.</p> + + <p>"Knew you'd come through there. That's what that gap's made + for," he shouted.</p> + + <p>"I've been in many a storm but I never felt wind like that + before," said Gard, as soon as his breath came back.</p> + + <p>"If you'd stopped with me you'd have been all right," said + Bernel. "There was no need for you to go after Nance. We've been + through that lots of times, haven't we, Nance?"</p> + + <p>"Lots."</p> + + <p>"I shall know next time," said Gard, and to Nance it was a + fresh experience to think of some one going out of his way to be + of possible service to her.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER + VIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW TOM WANTED TO BUT DIDN'T DARE</h3> + + <p>Before the six weeks allowed by Sark law for the retraiting of + the property had expired, Grannie and Mrs. Hamon put in their + claims, and it became generally known that they would become the + new owners of La Closerie, in place of John Guille.</p> + + <p>When the rumour at length reached Tom's ears, he, not + unnaturally perhaps, set down the whole matter as a plot to oust + him from his heritage and put Nance and Bernel in his place.</p> + + <p>So his anger grew, and he was powerless. And the impotence of + an angry man may lead him into gruesome paths. Smouldering fires + burst out at times into devastating flames, and maddened bulls + put down their heads and charge regardless of consequences.</p> + + <p>When Tom Hamon asked Peter Mauger to lend him his gun to go + rabbit-shooting one night, Peter, if he had been a thoughtful + man, would have declined.</p> + + <p>But Peter was above all things easy-going, and anything but + thoughtful of such matters as surged gloomily in Tom's angry + head, and he lent him his gun as a matter of course.</p> + + <p>And Tom went off across the Coupée into Little Sark, + nursing his black devil and thinking vaguely and gloomily of the + things he would like to do. For to rob a man of his rights in + this fashion was past a man's bearing, and if he was to be ruined + for the sake of that solemn-faced slip of a Nance and that young + limb of a Bernel, he might as well take payment for it all, and + cut their crowing, and give them something to remember him + by.</p> + + <p>He had no very definite intentions. His mind was a chaos of + whirling black furies. He would like to pay somebody out for the + wrongs under which he was suffering—who, or how, was of + little moment. He had been wounded, he wanted to hit back.</p> + + <p>He turned off the Coupée to the left and struck down + through the gorse and bracken towards the Pot, and then crept + along the cliffs and across the fields towards La + Closerie—still for three days his, in the reversion; after + that, gone from him irrevocably—a galling shame and not to + be borne by any man that called himself a man.</p> + + <p>Should he lie in the hedge and shoot down the old man as he + came in from those cursed mines which had started all the + trouble? Or should he walk right into the house and shoot and + fell whatever he came across? If he must suffer it would at all + events be some satisfaction to think that he had made them suffer + too.</p> + + <p>From where he stood he could look right in through the open + door, and could hear their voices—Nance and Bernel and Mrs. + Hamon—the interlopers, the schemers, the stealers of his + rights.</p> + + <p>The shaft of light was eclipsed suddenly as Nance came out and + tripped across the yard on some household duty.</p> + + <p>He remembered how he used to terrify her by springing out of + the darkness at her. She had helped to bring all this trouble + about.</p> + + <p>Why should he not—? Why should he not—?</p> + + <p>And while his gun still shook in his hands to the wild + throbbing of his pulses, Nance passed out of his sight into the + barn.</p> + + <p>The deed a man may do on the spur of the moment, when his + brain is on fire, is not so readily done when it has to be + thought about.</p> + + <p>Then Mrs. Hamon came to the door, and called to Nance to bring + with her a piece or two of wood for the fire.</p> + + <p>Here was his chance! Here was the head and front of the + offence, past, present, and future! If she had never come into + the family there would have been no Nance, no Bernel, no selling + of the farm, maybe. A movement of the arms, the crooking of a + finger, and things would be even between them.</p> + + <p>But—it would still be he who would have to pay—as + always!</p> + + <p>All through he had been the sufferer, and if he did this thing + he must suffer still more—always he who must pay.</p> + + <p>The man who hesitates is lost, or saved. When the contemplator + of evil deeds begins also to contemplate consequences, reason is + beginning to resume her sway.</p> + + <p>Then he heard heavy footsteps and voices. His father and + Stephen Gard.</p> + + <p>Another chance! Gard he hated. There was a bruise on his right + jaw still. And the old man!—he had cut him out of his + inheritance by going crazy over those cursed mines.</p> + + <p>"I'm sorry you have gone so far," Gard was saying as they + passed. "If you had consulted me I should have advised against + it. Mining is always more or less of a speculation. I would + never, if I could help it, let any man put more into a mine than + he can afford to lose."</p> + + <p>"If you know a thing's a good thing you want all you can get + out of it," said old Tom stoutly.</p> + + <p>"Yes, if—" and they passed into the house, while Tom in + the hedge was considering which of them he would soonest see + dead.</p> + + <p>Now they were all inside together. A full charge of small shot + might do considerable and satisfactory damage.</p> + + <p>But thought of the certain consequences to himself welled + coldly up in him again, and he slunk noiselessly away, cursing + himself for leaving undone the work he had come out to do.</p> + + <p>On the common above the Pot, a terrified white scut rose + almost under his feet and sped along in front of him. He blew it + into rags, and was so ashamed of his prowess that he kicked the + remnants into the gorse and went home empty-handed.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + <h3>HOW OLD TOM FOUND THE SILVER HEART</h3> + + <p>One of the first things Stephen Gard had seen to, when he got + matters into his own hands, was the safeguarding of the mines + from ever-possible irruption of the sea. The great steam pumps + kept the workings reasonably clear of drainage water, but no + earthly power could drain the sea if it once got in.</p> + + <p>The central shafts had sunk far below sea-level. The lateral + galleries had, in some cases, run out seawards and were now + extending far under the sea itself.</p> + + <p>From the whirling coils of the tides and races round the + coast, he judged that the sea-bed was as seamed and broken and + full of faults as the visible cliffs ashore.</p> + + <p>In bad weather, the men in those submarine galleries and the + outbranching tunnels could hear the crash of the waves above + their heads, and the rolling and grinding of the mighty boulders + with which they disported.</p> + + <p>If, by chance, the sea should break through, the peril to life + and property would be great.</p> + + <p>He therefore caused to be constructed and fitted inside each + tunnel, at the point where it branched from its main gallery, a + stout iron door, roughly hinged at the top and falling, in case + of need, into the flange of a thick wooden frame. The framework + was fitted to the opening on the seaward side, in a groove cut + deep into the rock round each side and top and bottom. The heavy + iron door, when open, lay up against the roof of the tunnel and + was supported by two wooden legs. If the sea should break + through, the first rush of the water would sweep away the + supporting legs, the iron door would fall with a crash into the + flange of the wooden frame, and the greater the pressure the + tighter it would fit.</p> + + <p>So the weight of the sea would seal the iron door against the + wooden casement, which would swell and press always tighter + against the rock, and that boring would be closed for ever. And + if any man should be inside the tunnel when the sea broke + through, there he must stop, drowned like a rat in its hole, + unless by a miracle he could make his way along the tunnel before + the trap-door fell.</p> + + <p>Gard never ceased to enjoin the utmost caution on the men who + undertook these outermost experimental borings.</p> + + <p>His strict injunctions were to cease work at the first sign of + water in these undersea tunnels, make for the gallery, close the + trap, and await events.</p> + + <p>Believing absolutely in the existence of one or more great + central deposits whence all these thin veins of silver had come, + and hoping to strike them at every blow of his pick, old Tom + Hamon was the keenest explorer and opener of new leads in the + mine.</p> + + <p>"The silver's there all right," he said, time and again, "it + only wants finding," and he pushed ahead, here and there, + wherever he thought the chances most favourable.</p> + + <p>He took his rightful pay along with the rest for the work he + did, but it was not for wages he wrought. Ever just beyond the + point of his energetic pick lay fortune, and he was after it with + all his heart and soul and bodily powers.</p> + + <p>For months he had been following up a vein which ran out under + the sea, and grew richer and richer as he laid it bare. He + believed it would lead him to the mother vein, and that to the + heart of all the Sark silver. And so he toiled, early and late, + and knew no weariness.</p> + + <p>His tunnel, in places not more than three and four feet high + and between two and three feet wide, extended now several hundred + feet under the sea, and was fitted at the gallery end with the + usual raised iron door.</p> + + <p>It was hot work in there, in the dim-lighted darkness, in + spite of the fact that the sea was close above his head. + Fortunately, here and there, he had come upon curious little + chambers like empty bubbles in one-time molten rock, ten feet + across and as much in height, some of them, and curiously whorled + and wrought, and these allowed him breathing spaces and welcome + relief from the crampings of the passage.</p> + + <p>When he had broken into such a chamber it needed, at times, no + little labour to rediscover his vein on the opposite side. But he + always found it in time, and broke through the farther wall with + unusual difficulty, and went on.</p> + + <p>The men generally worked in pairs, but old Tom would have no + one with him. He did all the work, picking and hauling the refuse + single-handed. The work should be his alone, his alone the glory + of the great and ultimate discovery.</p> + + <p>The rocks above him sweated and dripped at times, but that was + only to be expected and gave him no anxiety. Alone with his eager + hopes he chipped and picked, and felt no loneliness because of + the flame of hope that burned within him. Above him he could hear + the long roll and growl of the wave-tormented boulders—now + a dull, heavy fall like the blow of a gigantic mallet, and again + a long-drawn crash like shingle grinding down a hillside. But + these things he had heard before and had grown accustomed to.</p> + + <p>And so it was fated that, one day, after patiently picking + round a great piece of rock till it was loosened from its + ages-old bed, he felt it tremble under his hand, and leaning his + weight against it, it disappeared into space beyond.</p> + + <p>That had happened before when he struck one of the chambers, + and he felt no uneasiness. If there had been water beyond, it + would have given him notice by oozing round the rock as he + loosened it. The brief rush of foul gas, which always followed + the opening of one of these hollows, he avoided by lying flat on + the ground until he felt the air about him sweeter again.</p> + + <p>Then, enlarging the aperture with his pick, he scrambled + through into this chamber now first opened since time began.</p> + + <p>It was like many he had seen before, but considerably larger. + Holding his light at arm's length, above his head, a million + little eyes twinkled back at him as the rays shot to and fro on + the pointed facets of the rock crystals which hung from the roof + and started out of the walls and ground.</p> + + <p>The gleaming fingers seemed all pointed straight at him. Was + it in mockery or in acknowledgment of his prowess?</p> + + <p>For, in among the pointing fingers, it seemed to him that the + silver-bearing veins ran thick as the setting of an ancient + jewel, twisted and curling and winding in and out so that his + eyes were dazzled with the wonder of it all.</p> + + <p>"A man! A man at last! Since time began we have awaited him, + and this is he at last!" so those myriad eyes and pointing + fingers seemed to cry to him.</p> + + <p>And up above, the roar and growl of the sea sounded closer + than ever before.</p> + + <p>But he had found his treasure and he heeded nought beside. + Here, of a surety, he said to himself, was the silver heart from + which the scattered veins had been projected. He had found what + he had sought with such labours and persistency. What else + mattered?</p> + + <p>And then, without a moment's warning—the end.</p> + + <p>No signal crackings, no thin jets or streams from the green + immensity beyond.</p> + + <p>Just one universal collapse, one chaotic climacteric, begun + and ended in the same instant, as the crust of the chamber, no + longer supported by the in-pent air, dissolved under the + irresistible pressure of the sea.</p> + + <p>Where the sparkling chamber had been was a whirling vortex of + bubbling green water, in which tumbled grotesquely the body of a + man.</p> + + <p>The water boiled furiously along the tunnel and foamed into + the gallery. The wooden supports of the iron door gave way; the + door sank slowly into its appointed place.</p> + + <p>Old Tom Hamon was dead and buried.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + <h3>HOW YOUNG TOM FOUND HIS MATCH</h3> + + <p>The news spread quickly.</p> + + <p>Tom Hamon heard it as he sat brooding over his wrongs and + cursing the chicken-heartedness and fear of consequences which + had robbed him of his revenge.</p> + + <p>He started up with an incredulous curse and tore across the + Coupée to the mines to make sure.</p> + + <p>But there was no doubt about it. Old Tom was dead: the six + weeks were still two days short of their fulfilment; the property + was his; his day had come.</p> + + <p>He walked straight to La Closerie, and stalked grimly into the + kitchen, where, as it happened, they were sitting over a doleful + and long-delayed meal.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon had been too overwhelmed by the unexpected blow to + consider all its bearings. Grannie, looking beyond, had foreseen + consequences and trouble with Tom, and had sent for Stephen Gard + and given him some elementary instruction relative to the laws of + succession in Sark.</p> + + <p>Tom stalked in upon them with malevolent triumph. They had + tried their best to oust him from his inheritance and the act of + God had spoiled them. He felt almost virtuous.</p> + + <p>But his natural truculence, and his not altogether unnatural + exultation at the frustration of these plans for his own + upsetting, overcame all else. Of regret for their personal loss + and his own he had none.</p> + + <p>"Oh—ho! Mighty fine, aren't we, feasting on the best," + he began. "Let me tell you all this is mine now, spite of all + your dirty tricks, and you can get out, all of you, and the + sooner the better. Eating my best butter, too! Ma fé, fat + is good enough for the likes of you," and he stretched a long arm + and lifted the dish of golden butter from the board—butter, + too, which Nance and her mother had made themselves after also + milking the cows.</p> + + <p>"Put that down!" said Gard, in a voice like the taps of a + hammer.</p> + + <p>"You get out—bravache! Bretteur! I'm master here."</p> + + <p>"In six weeks—if you live that long. Until things are + properly divided you'll keep out of this, if you're well + advised."</p> + + <p>"I will, will I? We'll see about that, Mister Bully. I know + what you're up to, trying to fool our Nance with your foreign + ways, and I won't have it. She's not for the likes of you or any + other man that's got a wife and children over in + England—"</p> + + <p>This was the suddenly-thought-of burden of a discussion over + the cups one night at the canteen, soon after Gard's arrival, + when the possibility of his being a married man had been mooted + and had remained in Tom's turgid brain as a fact.</p> + + <p>"By the Lord!" cried Gard, starting up in black fury, "if you + can't behave yourself I'll break every bone in your body."</p> + + <p>And Nance's face, which had unconsciously stiffened at Tom's + words, glowed again at Gard's revelation of the natural man in + him, and her eyes shone with various emotions—doubts, + hopes, fears, and a keen interest in what would follow.</p> + + <p>The first thing that followed was the dish of butter, which + hurtled past Gard's head and crashed into the face of the clock, + and then fell with a flop to the earthen floor.</p> + + <p>The next was Tom's lowered head and cumbrous body, as he + charged like a bull into Gard and both rolled to the ground, the + table escaping catastrophe by a hair's-breadth.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon had sprung up with clasped hands and piteous face. + Nance and Bernel had sprung up also, with distress in their faces + but still more of interest. They had come to a certain reliance + on Gard's powers, and how many and many a time had they longed to + be able to give Tom a well-deserved thrashing!</p> + + <p>Through the open door of her room came Grannie's hard little + voice, "Now then! Now then! What are you about there?" but no one + had time to tell her.</p> + + <p>Gard was up in a moment, panting hard, for Tom's bull-head had + caught him in the wind.</p> + + <p>"If you want ... to fight ... come outside!" he jerked.</p> + + <p>"—— you!" shouted Tom, as he struggled to his + knees and then to his feet. "I'll smash you!" and he lowered his + head and made another blind rush.</p> + + <p>But this time Gard was ready for him, and a stout buffet on + the ear as he passed sent him crashing in a heap into the bowels + of the clock, which had witnessed no such doings since Tom's + great-grandfather brought it home and stood it in its place, and + it testified to its amazement at them by standing with hands + uplifted at ten minutes to two until it was repaired many months + afterwards.</p> + + <p>Tom got up rather dazedly, and Gard took him by the shoulders + and ran him outside before he had time to pull himself + together.</p> + + <p>"Now," said Gard, shaking him as a bull-dog might a calf. "See + here! You're not wanted here at present, and if you make any more + trouble you'll suffer for it," and he gave him a final whirl away + from the house and went in and closed the door.</p> + + <p>Tom stood gazing at it in dull fury, thought of smashing the + window, picked up a stone, remembered just in time that it would + be his window, so flung the stone and a curse against the door + and departed.</p> + + <p>"I'm sorry," said Gard, looking deprecatingly at Nance. "I'm + afraid I lost my temper."</p> + + <p>"It was all his fault," said Nance. "Did he hurt you?"</p> + + <p>"Only my feelings. He had no right to say such things or do + what he did."</p> + + <p>"It's always good to see him licked," said Bernel with gusto. + "Nance and I used to try, but he was too big for us."</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon had gone in with a white face to explain things to + Grannie.</p> + + <p>She came back presently and said briefly to Gard, "She wants + you," and he went in to the old lady.</p> + + <p>"You did well, Stephen Gard," she chirped. "Stand by them, for + they'll need it. He's a bad lot is Tom, and he'll make things + uncomfortable when he comes here to live. When Nancy takes her + third of what's left of the house, that'll be only two rooms, so + you'll have to look out for another, and maybe you'll not find it + easy to get one in Little Sark. If you take my advice you'll try + Charles Guille at Clos Bourel, or Thomas Carré at the + Plaisance Cottages by the Coupée, they're kindly folk + both. I've told Nancy to get Philip Tanquerel of Val Creux to + help her portion the lots, and it'll be no easy job, for Tom will + choose the best and get all he can."</p> + + <p>They were agreeably surprised to hear no more of Tom, but + learned before long that, on the strength of his unexpected good + fortune, he had gone over to Guernsey to pass, in ways that most + appealed to him, the six weeks allowed by the law for the + settlement of his father's affairs.</p> + + <p>Within that six weeks Philip Tanquerel of Val Creux had, on + Mrs. Hamon's behalf, to allot all old Tom's estate, house, + fields, cattle, implements, furniture, into three as equal + portions as he could contrive with his most careful balancing of + pros and cons. For, with Solomon-like wisdom, Sark law entails + upon the widow the apportionment of the three lots into which + everything is divided, but allows the heir first choice of any + two of them, the remaining lot becoming the widow's dower.</p> + + <p>No light undertaking, therefore, the apportionment of those + lots, or the widow may be left with only bedrooms to live in, and + an ill proportion of grazing ground for her cattle and herself to + live upon. For, be sure that when it comes to the picking of + these lots, even the best of sons will pick the plums, and when + such an one as Tom Hamon is in question it is as well to mingle + the plums and the sloes with an exactitude of proportionment that + will allow of no advantage either way.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + <h3>HOW GARD DREW NEARER TO HIS HEART'S DESIRE</h3> + + <p>Gard's isolation was brought home to him when he endeavoured + to find another lodging in Little Sark.</p> + + <p>Accommodation was, of course, limited. Many of the miners had + to tramp in each day from Sark. There was still, in spite of all + his tact and efforts, somewhat of a feeling against him as a + new-comer, an innovator, a tightener of loose cords, and no one + offered to change quarters to oblige him. And so, in the end, he + took Grannie's advice and found a room in one of the + thatch-roofed cottages which offered their white-washed shoulders + to the road just where it rose out of the further side of the + Coupée into Sark.</p> + + <p>They were quiet, farmer-fisher folk who lived there, having + nothing to do with the mines and little beyond a general interest + in them.</p> + + <p>When not at work, he was thrown much upon himself, and if in + his rambles he chanced upon Bernel Hamon it was a treat, and if, + as happened all too seldom, upon Nance as well, an enjoyment + beyond words.</p> + + <p>But Nance was a busy maid, with hens and chickens, and cows + and calves, and pigs and piglets claiming her constant attention, + and it was only now and again that she could so arrange her + duties as to allow of a flight with Bernel—a flight which + always took the way to the sea and developed presently into a + bathing revel wherein she flung cares and clothes to the winds, + or into a fishing excursion, in which pleasure and profit and + somewhat of pain were evenly mixed.</p> + + <p>For, though she loved the sea and ate fresh-caught fish with + as much gusto as any, she hated seeing them caught—almost + as much as she hated having her fowls or piglets slaughtered for + eating purposes, and never would touch them—a delicacy of + feeling at which Bernel openly scoffed but could not laugh her + out of.</p> + + <p>She had sentiments also regarding the rabbits Bernel shot on + the cliffs, but being wild, and she herself having had no hand in + their upbringing and not having known them intimately, she + accepted them as natural provision, though not without + compunctions at times concerning possible families of orphans + left totally unprovided for.</p> + + <p>When she did permit herself a few hours off duty she did it + with a whole-hearted enjoyment—approaching the naïve + abandon of childhood—which, to Gard's sober restraint, when + he was graciously permitted to witness it, was wholly + charming.</p> + + <p>By degrees, and especially after her father's tragic death, + Nance's feelings towards the stranger had perceptibly + changed.</p> + + <p>He might be an alien, an Englishman; but he was at all events + a Cornishman, and she had heard say that the men of Cornwall and + of the Islands and of the Bretagne had much in common, just as + their rugged coasts had. And England, after all, was allied to + the Islands, belonged to them in fact, and was indeed quite as + essential a part of the Queen's dominions as the Islands + themselves, and to harbour unfriendly feeling towards your own + relations—unless indeed, as in the case of Tom, they had + given you ample cause—would be surely the mark of a small + and narrow mind.</p> + + <p>And he might be a miner; and mines, and most miners, were + naturally hateful to her. But he had been a sailor, and was miner + only by accident as it were, and she knew that he loved the sea. + Allowance, she supposed, must be made for men getting twists in + their brains—like her father. He had gone crazy over these + mines though he had been sensible enough in other matters.</p> + + <p>What her careful, surreptitious observation of him, from the + depths and round the wings of her sun-bonnet, told her was that + he was an upright man, and true, and bold, with a spirit which he + kept well in hand but which could blaze like lightning on + occasion, and a strength which he could turn to excellent purpose + when the need arose.</p> + + <p>And—and—she admitted it shyly to herself and not + without wonder, and found herself dwelling upon it as she sang + softly to the ping-pang of the milk into the pail, or the swoosh + of it in the churn—he thought of her, Nance + Hamon—perhaps he even admired her a little—any way he + was certainly interested in her, and in his shy reserved way he + showed a desire for her company which she no longer found + pleasure in defeating as she had done at first.</p> + + <p>Undoubtedly an odd feeling, this, of being cared for by an + outside man—- but withal tending to increase of self-esteem + and therefore not unpleasing.</p> + + <p>Peter Mauger, indeed—but then she had never looked upon + Peter as anything but Peter, and the shadow of Tom had always + obscured him to her. Stephen Gard was a man, and a different kind + of a man from Peter altogether.</p> + + <p>She remembered, with a slight reddening still of the warm + brown cheeks whenever she thought of it—how, on the + previous Sunday afternoon, she and Bernel had gone running over + the downs through the waist-high bracken towards Brenière, + the tide in their favourite pool below the rocks being too high + for bathing. And on the slope above the Cromlech they had come + suddenly on Gard, lying there looking out over the sea towards + L'Etat.</p> + + <p>He had jumped up at sight of them and stood hesitating a + moment.</p> + + <p>"Going for a bathe?" he asked, knowing the usual course of + their proceedings.</p> + + <p>"Yes, we were," said Bernel. "You going?" with a glance at the + towel Gard had brought out on the chance of a dip.</p> + + <p>"I'd thought of it, but your tides and currents here are so + troublesome—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, we know all about 'em. They're all right when you + know."</p> + + <p>"I suppose so, but—" with a look at Nance, "I'll clear + out."</p> + + <p>"You're not coming?"</p> + + <p>"Your sister wouldn't like it."</p> + + <p>"Nance?" with a look of surprise. "She won't mind. Will you, + Nance?"</p> + + <p>Then it was her turn to hesitate, for bathing with Bernel was + one thing, and with Mr. Gard quite another.</p> + + <p>"You'll show me another time, Bernel," said Gard, picking up + his towel. "I wouldn't like to spoil your fun now."</p> + + <p>"But you wouldn't. Would he, Nance?"</p> + + <p>"I don't mind—if you'll give me the cave."</p> + + <p>"All the caves you want," said Bernel, scornful at such + unusual stickling on the part of his chum.</p> + + <p>"Quite sure you don't mind?" asked Gard, doubtful still.</p> + + <p>"If I have the cave. It's generally the one who gets there + first, and Bern goes quicker than I do."</p> + + <p>"Of course. You're only a girl," laughed Bernel, as he raced + on down the slope.</p> + + <p>And Nance laughed too at his brotherly depreciation, and Gard, + who had never regarded her as only a girl, and whose thoughts of + her were very absorbing and uplifting, happening to catch her + eye, laughed also, and so they went down towards the sea in + pleasant enough humour and the nearest approach to + good-fellowship they had yet attained.</p> + + <p>Nance disappeared round a corner, and the next he saw of her + she was swimming boldly out towards Brenière point, and in + a moment he and Bernel were after her.</p> + + <p>"Don't go past the point," jerked Bernel.</p> + + <p>"She's gone."</p> + + <p>"She's a fish and knows her way," and just then they ploughed + into what at first looked to Gard like a perfectly smooth spot + amid the troubled waters, and then he was lifted from below and + flung awry and out of his stroke, and tossed and tumbled till he + felt as helpless as a dead fish. Then a fresh coil of the + bubbling tide whirled him to one side and he was out again in the + safety of the dancing waves.</p> + + <p>"You see?" cried Bernel. "That's what it's like," and shot + into it headlong.</p> + + <p>And Gard, treading water quietly at a safe distance, saw how, + every here and there, great crowns of water came surging up from + below, with such lunging force that they rose in some cases + almost a foot above the neighbouring level of the sea, and he + wondered how any swimmer could make way through them. And yet + Nance had cleft them like a seal, and he could hardly make out + her brown head bobbing among the distant waves.</p> + + <p>"Is it safe for her?" he cried after Bernel, but the boy's + only reply was a scornful wave of the arm as he pressed on to + join her.</p> + + <p>Gard had an ample swim, and was dressed and sitting on a rock, + when they came leisurely in, and it seemed to him that never in + his life had he seen anything half so pretty as those shining + coils of chestnut hair with the sea-drops sparkling in them, and + the bright energetic face below, browned with sun and wind, + rosy-brown now with her long swim, and beaded like her hair with + pearly drops.</p> + + <p>As she swept along below, she gave just one quick up-glance, + and then, with completest ignorance of his presence, turned her + head to Bernel and chattered away to him with most determined + nonchalance.</p> + + <p>She and Bernel used the long effective side-stroke almost + entirely, and the little arm that flashed in and out so + tirelessly was as white as the garment that fluttered in wavy + convolutions about the lithe little body below.</p> + + <p>Gard, as he watched her, felt like a discoverer of hidden + treasure, overwhelmed and intoxicated with the wonder of + unexpected riches. He had come to this wild little land of Sark + after silver, and he said to himself that he had found a pearl + beyond price.</p> + + <p>In a minute or two they were scrambling up the slope and flung + themselves down beside him for a rest, feeling the strain of + unusual exertion now that the brace and tonic of the water was + off them.</p> + + <p>"You are bold swimmers," said Gard.</p> + + <p>"She's a fish in the water," said Bernel, "and she made me + swim almost as soon as I could walk."</p> + + <p>"You see," said Nance, in her decisive little way, "many of + our Sark men won't learn to swim. They think it's mistrusting + God. But that seems to me foolish. Every man who goes down to the + sea ought to be able to swim—besides, it's terribly + nice."</p> + + <p>"Yes, surely, Sark men ought to be able to swim, and they have + certainly no lack of opportunity. But it's a dangerous coast for + those who don't know it. Look at that now," and he nodded to the + foaming race in front of them, between Brenière and a + gaunt rocky peak which rose like a mountain-top out of the lonely + sea. "Why, it must be running five or six miles an hour."</p> + + <p>From where they sat the sea seemed perfectly calm, a level + plain of deepest blue, with pale green streaks under the rocks + and dark purple patches further out, its surface just furrowed + with tiny wind-ripples, and underneath, a long slow heave like + the breathings of the spirit of the deep. But, smooth as the blue + plain seemed, wave met rock with roar and turmoil, and between + that outlying peak and the shore the waters tore and foamed with + wild white crests—tumbling green ridges that were never two + seconds the same. While all along the great black base of the + peak the white waves rushed like mighty rockets, flinging long + white arms up its ragged sides and crashing together at the end + in dazzling bursts of foam.</p> + + <p>"Wonderful!" said Gard. "I've lain here for hours watching + it."</p> + + <p>"I've swum it," said Nance quietly.</p> + + <p>"So've I," said Bernel.</p> + + <p>"Never! You two? I wonder you came back alive!"</p> + + <p>"On the slack it's not so bad, and at half ebb."</p> + + <p>"And what is there to see when you get there?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, just rocks, and puffins and gulls. You can hardly walk + without stepping on them. Do you remember how we sat and watched + the baby gulls coming out, Nance?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," nodded Nance. "And you nearly got your fingers bitten + off by a puffin when you felt in its hole."</p> + + <p>"Ma dé, yes! They do bite."</p> + + <p>"What do you call the rock?" asked Gard, nodding across at + it.</p> + + <p>"L'Etat," said Nance. "Mr. Cachemaille once told me that it + had most likely at one time been joined on to Little Sark by a + Coupée, just the same as Little Sark is joined to Sark. + That's the Coupée, that shelf under water where the tide + runs so fast. Some day, he said, perhaps our Coupée will + go and we'll be an island just as L'Etat is."</p> + + <p>"It won't be this week," said Bernel philosophically.</p> + + <p>"It looks like the top of a high mountain just sticking up out + of the water," said Gard, fascinated by the ceaseless rush of + those monstrous waves in an otherwise calm sea.</p> + + <p>"I suppose that is what it is," said Nance. "It's far worse at + the other end. You can't see it from here. No matter how smooth + the sea is it seems to tumble down over some cliff under water + and then come shooting up again, and it throws itself at the + rocks and sends the spray up into the sky."</p> + + <p>"I'd like to go and see it," said Gard. "But I don't think I + would like to swim. Could one get a boat?"</p> + + <p>"We have a boat with Nick Mollet in the bay below here," said + Bernel. "But he's generally out fishing and you're always + busy."</p> + + <p>"I'll take a holiday some day and you shall take me over."</p> + + <p>Time came when they went, but it was hardly a holiday + undertaking.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + <h3>HOW NANCE CAME UP THE MAIN SHAFT WITHOUT GOING DOWN IT</h3> + + <p>It was a few days after this that Gard had another proof of + Nance's and Bernel's fearlessness and prowess in the waters they + had conquered into friendliness.</p> + + <p>Bernel was a great fisherman. He could wheedle out rock-fish + by the dozen while envious miners sat about him tugging hopefully + at empty lines.</p> + + <p>He had gone down one afternoon to the overhanging wooden slip + at Port Gorey, and had excellent sport, until a sudden shift of + the wind to the south-west began piling the waters into the gulf + on an incoming tide. Then he drew in his lines and sat dangling + his legs for a few minutes, before gathering up his catch and + going home.</p> + + <p>Nance saw him from the other headland and came tripping round + to see how he had fared.</p> + + <p>"Bern," she cried, as she came up. "Tell that man he's not + safe down there. The waves are bad there sometimes."</p> + + <p>"Hi, you!" cried Bernel, to a miner who had been watching his + success and had then climbed down seaward over the furrowed black + ledges, hoping to do better there. "Come back! It's not safe + there."</p> + + <p>But the fisherman, intent on his sport, either did not, or + would not, hear him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, well, if you won't," said Bernel.</p> + + <p>And then, without warning, a wave greater than any that had + gone before it, hurled itself up the rocks and came roaring over + the black ledges into the bay, and the man was gone.</p> + + <p>Nance and Bernel had straightened up instantly at the sound of + its coming.</p> + + <p>Their eyes swept the rocks, and caught a glimpse of the dark + body tumbling with the cascade of foam into Port Gorey.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Bern!" cried Nance, with up-clasped hands.</p> + + <p>But Bernel, loosing his belt and kicking off his breeches with + a glance at the derelict, launched himself clear of the pier with + a shout. And Nance, seeing the bulk of the man, and careless of + everything but Bernel who seemed so very small compared with him, + threw off her sun-bonnet and linen jacket, loosed a button, and + was gone like a white flash after the two of them.</p> + + <p>Gard was in the assay office not far away. He heard the shout + and ran out just in time to see Nance go, and running to the slip + he saw their clothes lying and the meaning of it all.</p> + + <p>Bern had hold of the miner by the collar of his coat, and was + doing his best with one hand to tow him to the shingle at the + head of the gulf, the almost drowned one splashing wildly and + doing his utmost to get hold of and drown his rescuer. Every now + and again Bernel found it necessary to let go in order to keep + out of his way.</p> + + <p>Nance swam steadily up and the sinking one made a frantic + clutch at her.</p> + + <p>"Lie quiet or you shall drown," she cried. "Do you hear? Lie + quiet and you are safe! See!" and she held his right hand while + Bernel took his left and the man found himself no longer sinking, + and they struck out for the shingle.</p> + + <p>Others of the miners had run down with ropes, but ropes were + useless in that deep gulf. Nance and Bernel were doing the only + thing possible, and Gard saw that they were all right now that + the man had ceased to struggle.</p> + + <p>He picked up Bernel's things, and Nance's, with a curious + feeling of delight and a touch of shyness, her sun-bonnet, her + little linen jacket, her woollen skirt, her neat little wooden + sabots, and ran swiftly with them to the shaft at the head of the + gulf.</p> + + <p>They would make for the adit, he thought, and so gain the + shaft and come up by the ladders, if, indeed, John Thomas was in + any state to climb ladders.</p> + + <p>"Bring some brandy," he shouted to one of the men, and ran on. + Nance was more to him than all the miners in Sark, and it was not + brandy she would be wanting, he knew, but her clothes.</p> + + <p>And, since a man needs both his hands to go down almost + perpendicular ladders, he left at the top all that she would not + instantly need and took only the little jacket and the woollen + skirt. These he rolled into a bundle as he ran, and gripped in + his teeth as he began the descent, and rejoiced all the way down + in this close intimacy with her clothing. Indeed, on one of the + stages, when he stopped for a moment's breathing, he kissed the + little garments devoutly, and then laughed shamefacedly at + himself for his foolishness, and glanced round quickly lest any + should have witnessed it.</p> + + <p>So down, down, till he came to the level, and crept along the + adit to the shore.</p> + + <p>They had dragged John Thomas up on to the shingle, and he lay + there half-dead and fuller of water than was his custom.</p> + + <p>Nance looked up quickly at the sound of Gard's feet, and the + paled-brown of her face flushed red at sight of him, and then a + grateful gleam lighted it as he dropped her things into her hand + and bent over John Thomas, who was showing signs of life in a + dazed and water-logged fashion.</p> + + <p>"You did splendidly, you two," he said to Bernel. "It's a + grand thing to save a man's life, even if it's only John Thomas," + for John Thomas had found this land of free spirits too much for + him, and had become a soaker and an indifferent workman.</p> + + <p>"He'll be all right after a bit," he added. "I told them to + send down some brandy," at which John Thomas groaned heavily to + show his extremity. "As soon as it comes, Bernel, you help Nance + up the ladders. Then run home both of you. Your things are at the + top, Bernel. And here comes the brandy. Now, up you go! Do you + think you can manage the ladders?" he asked Nance.</p> + + <p>"I'll manage them," and they crept away into the darkness of + the adit, and Nance thought she had never been in such a hideous + place in her life.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER + XIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW GARD REFUSED AN OFFER AND MADE AN ENEMY</h3> + + <p>They had been most gratefully and graciously free from Tom + since his father's death, but he reappeared a day or two before + the end of the six weeks, and brought with him a wife from + Guernsey—not even a Guernsey woman, however, but a + Frenchwoman from the Cotentin—black-haired, black-eyed, + good-looking, after the type that would please such an one as Tom + Hamon—somewhat over-bold of face and manner for the rest of + the family.</p> + + <p>Philip Tanquerel had had to bring all his sagacity to bear on + his difficult task of apportioning the lots, and Tom, who knew + every inch of the ground and all its capacities, grinned + viciously now and again at the acumen displayed in the + divisions.</p> + + <p>The allotment of the house-room had presented + difficulties.</p> + + <p>The great kitchen at La Closerie occupied the whole centre + third of the ground floor, the remaining thirds of the space on + each side being taken up with the rarely-used best room and three + bedrooms, all pretty much of a size, and all opening into the + kitchen. Up above, under the sloping thatch was the great solie + or loft, entered from the outside through the door-window in the + gable by means of a short wooden ladder.</p> + + <p>Grannie's dower rights, when Tom's grandfather died, had + obtained for her the two rooms constituting one-third of the + house on the south side of the kitchen, and certain rights of use + of the kitchen itself. As she needed only one room, she had + bartered off the other and her kitchen rights to her son and his + wife in exchange for food and attendance, and the arrangement had + worked excellently.</p> + + <p>But, on her first glimpse of young Tom's quick-eyed, + bold-faced Frenchwoman, she had vowed she would have none of her; + and in the end, as the result of some chaffering, it was arranged + that Tom and his wife should have the kitchen and all the rooms + north of it, while Mrs. Hamon and Nance and Bernel had the room + next Grannie's for a kitchen, and the great loft for bedrooms, + all the necessary and duly specified alterations to be made at + Tom's expense, and Mr. Tanquerel to see them carried out at once. + Grannie's other room was to become their sitting-room also and + they were to provide for her as hitherto. By boarding up the + doors leading to the kitchen, and making a new entrance to their + own rooms, the families were therefore entirely separated, to + every one's complete satisfaction.</p> + + <p>The division of the furniture and kitchen utensils gave Mrs. + Hamon all she needed. Tom, of course, took as <i>droit d'ainesse</i>, + before the division, the family clock—which still bore + signs of strife, and had refused to go since that night when + Gard's buffet had sent him headlong into it; and the farm-ladders + and the pilotins—the stone props on which the haystacks + were built; and in addition to his own full share, as between + himself and Nance and Bernel, he exacted from them to the + uttermost farthing the extra seventh part of the value of all + they received—an Island right, but honoured more in the + breach than in the observance, and one which, in its exercise, + tended to label the exerciser as unduly mean and grasping.</p> + + <p>Beyond that, everything was so fairly well balanced that Tom + found himself unable to secure all he had hoped, and so deemed + himself ill-used, and did not hesitate to express himself in his + usual forcible manner.</p> + + <p>To obtain some of the things he specially wanted, Tanquerel + had so arranged the lots that he must sacrifice others, and these + little matters rankled in his mind and obscured his purview.</p> + + <p>There was a good deal of unhappy wrangling, but in the end + Mrs. Hamon and Nance found themselves with a large cornfield, one + for pasture, and one for mixed crops, potatoes, beans and so on, + besides rights of grazing and gorse-cutting on a certain stretch + of cliff common.</p> + + <p>They had also a pony and two cows, and two pigs and a couple + of dozen hens and a cock—quite enough to keep Nance busy; + and to them also fell an adequate share of the byres and barns, + and the free use of the well.</p> + + <p>Tom, however, still looked upon them as interlopers, and + grudged them every stick and stone, and hoof and claw. If they + had never come into the family all would have been his. Whatever + they had they had snatched out of his mouth.</p> + + <p>If it had not been for Philip Tanquerel the alterations agreed + on would never have been completed. He got down the carpenter and + mason from Sark, stood over them, day by day, till the work was + done, and then referred them to Tom for payment—and a + pleasant and lively time they had in getting it.</p> + + <p>The conditions resulting from all this were just such as have + prevailed in hundreds of similar cases, such as are almost + inevitable from the minute divisions and sub-divisions of small + properties. When ill-feeling has prevailed beforehand it is by no + means likely to be lessened by the unavoidable friction of such a + distribution.</p> + + <p>The open ill-feeling was, however, all on Tom's side. The + others had suffered him at closer quarters the greater part of + their lives. It was to them a mighty relief to be boarded off + from him, and to feel free at last from his unwelcome + incursions.</p> + + <p>He never spoke to any of them, and when they passed one + another on their various farm duties a black look and a muttered + curse was his only greeting.</p> + + <p>By means of what fairy tales concerning himself, or his + position, or Sark, he had induced the lively-eyed Julie to marry + him, we may not know. But Mrs. Tom very soon let it be known that + she considered herself woefully misled, and quite thrown away + upon such a place as Sark, and still more so upon this <i>ultima + thule</i> of Little Sark, which she volubly asserted was the very + last place le bon Dieu had made, and the condition in which it + was left did Him little credit.</p> + + <p>She, at all events, showed no disinclination to chat with her + neighbours. Very much the contrary. None of them could pass + within range of her eyes and tongue without a greeting and an + invitation to talk.</p> + + <p>"Tiens donc, Nancie, ma petite!" she would cry, at sight of + Nance. "What a hurry you are in. It is hurry and scurry and + bustle from morning till night with you over there. The hens? Let + them wait, ma garche, 'twill strengthen their legs to scratch a + bit, and 'twill enlighten your mind to hear about Guernsey and + Granville. Oh the beautiful country! Mon Dieu, if only I were + back there!"</p> + + <p>They all—except, perhaps, Grannie—felt for + her—lonely in a strange land—and were inclined to do + what they could to make her more contented. But she desired them + chiefly as listeners, and the things she had to tell were little + to their taste, and less to her credit from their point of view, + though she herself evidently looked upon them as every-day + matters, and calculated to inspire these simple island-folk with + the respect due to a woman of the greater world outside.</p> + + <p>Grannie's views of her grand-daughter-in-law had never altered + from the first moment she set eyes on her.</p> + + <p>When Mrs. Tom came in to hear herself talk, one afternoon when + Tom was away fishing, the old lady simply sat and stared at her + from the depths of her big black sun-bonnet, and never opened her + lips or gave any sign of interest or hearing.</p> + + <p>"Is she deaf?" asked Mrs. Tom after a while.</p> + + <p>"Dear me, no. Grannie hears everything," said Mrs. Hamon, with + a smile at thought of all the old lady would have to say + presently.</p> + + <p>"Nom d'un nom, then why doesn't she speak? Is it dumb she + is?"</p> + + <p>"Neither deaf nor dumb—nor yet a fool," rapped Grannie, + so sharply that the visitor jumped.</p> + + <p>And during the remainder of her visit, no matter to whom she + was talking or what she was saying, Julie's snapping black eyes + would inevitably keep working round to the depths of the big + black sun-bonnet, and at times her discourse lost point and + trailed to a ragged end.</p> + + <p>"It's my belief that old woman next door is a witch," she said + to her husband later on.</p> + + <p>"She's an old devil," he said bluntly. "She'll put the evil + eye on you if you don't take care."</p> + + <p>"She ought to be burnt," said Mrs. Tom.</p> + + <p>"All the same," said Tom musingly, "she's got money, so you'd + best be as civil to her as she'll let you."</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! My flesh creeps still at the way she looked at me. + She has the evil eye without a doubt."</p> + + <p>And Grannie?—"Mai grand doux! What does a woman like + that want here?" said she. "A wide mouth and wanton eyes. La + Closerie has never had these before—a Frenchwoman + too!"—with withering contempt. For, odd as it may seem, + among this people originally French, and still speaking a patois + based, like their laws and customs, on the old Norman, there is + no term of opprobrium more profound than "Frenchman."</p> + + <p>Madame Julie flatly refused to subject herself to further + peril from Grannie's keen but harmless gaze, and contented + herself with such opportunities of enlarging Nance's outlook on + life as casual chats about the farm-yard afforded, and found time + heavy on her hands.</p> + + <p>Ennui, before long, gave place to grumbling, and that to + recrimination; and from what the others could not help hearing, + through the boarded-up doors and the floor of the loft, Tom and + his wife had a cat-and-dog time of it.</p> + + <p>Gard had moved over to Plaisance with great regret. But + nothing else was possible under the altered circumstances at La + Closerie, so he made the best of it.</p> + + <p>It was some consolation to learn that they also missed + him.</p> + + <p>"Everything's different," grumbled Bernel, one day when they + met. "Tom and his wife quarrel so that we can hear them through + the walls. And Grannie sits by the hour without opening her + mouth. And mother and Nance are as quiet as if they were going to + be sick. And I'm getting green-mouldy. Seems as if we'd got to + the end of things, and nothing was ever going to happen again. I + think I'll go to Guernsey."</p> + + <p>"Do you think they'd like—I mean, would they mind if I + came in for a chat now and then? It's pretty lonely up at + Plaisance too."</p> + + <p>"Oh, they'll mind and so will I. When'll you come?"</p> + + <p>"I'll look in to-night as I come from the mines—if + you're sure—"</p> + + <p>"You come and try, and if you don't like it you needn't come + again"—with a twinkle of the eye.</p> + + <p>Nance did not strike him as looking as though she were going + to be sick, when he went in that night, nor did her mother.</p> + + <p>Grannie indeed had little to say, but then she was never + over-talkative, and when Gard more than once looked at her, and + wondered if she had fallen asleep, he always found the keen old + eyes wide open, and eyeing him watchfully as ever out of the + depths of the big black sun-bonnet.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon asked about his new quarters, and his quiet shake + of the head and simple—"They're kindly folk, but it's + somehow very different"—told its own tale.</p> + + <p>"They're a bit short-handed, you see," he added, "and so + they're all kept busy, and at times, I'm afraid, they wish me + further."</p> + + <p>"And you go all that way back for your dinner each day?" asked + Mrs. Hamon thoughtfully.</p> + + <p>"Well, I have tried taking it with me, but it's not very + satisfactory."</p> + + <p>"What would you say to coming here for it, as you used to? I + think we could manage it, Nance. What do you say?"</p> + + <p>"We could manage it all right," said Nance, "if—" and + then, in spite of herself, she could not keep that telltale mouth + of hers in order, and the attempt to repress a smile only + emphasized the dimples at the corners. For Gard's face was as + eager as a dog's at sight of a rat.</p> + + <p>"It will save me such a lot of time," he explained—at + which Nance dimpled again as she went out to feed her chickens, + and left them to complete the new arrangement.</p> + + <p>And if it had cost Gard every penny of his salary he would + still have rejoiced at it, and considered his bargain a good one. + As it was, it cost him no more than the trouble of rearranging + his terms with the good folks at Plaisance, and it gave a new + zest and enjoyment to life since it ensured a meeting with Nance + at least once each day.</p> + + <p>And not with Nance only!</p> + + <p>Madame Julie, very weary of herself, and Tom, and her + surroundings, and Sark, and life in general as understood in + Sark, very soon became conscious of the regular visits next door + of the best-looking young man she had yet seen in the Island, and + was filled with curiosity concerning him.</p> + + <p>"He's after that slip of a Nance," she said to herself. "And + he has his own share of good looks, has that young + man."—And then came the inevitable, "Mon Dieu, but I wish + Tom had been made like that!"</p> + + <p>To get a better view of him—and perhaps not without a + vague idea of ulterior interest and amusement for + herself—anything to add a dash of colour to the prevailing + greyness of her surroundings—she was leaning on the gate + next day when he came striding up to his dinner, and gave him, + "Bon jour, m'sieur!" with much heartiness and the full benefit of + her black eyes and white teeth.</p> + + <p>"'Jour, madame!" and he whipped off his hat and passed on into + the house.</p> + + <p>"That was Madame Tom, I suppose, who was leaning over the + gate, as I came in," he said, as they ate.</p> + + <p>"I expect so," said Mrs. Hamon. "She generally seems to have + time on her hands."</p> + + <p>"When Tom's not there," snapped Grannie. "Got her hands full + enough when he is."</p> + + <p>"I should imagine Tom would not be too easy to get on with at + times. Maybe he'll settle down now he's married."</p> + + <p>"Doesn't sound like settling down sometimes," chirped the old + lady again.</p> + + <p>"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that. She doesn't look + bad-tempered."</p> + + <p>"Tom's got more'n enough for the two of them."</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid she finds it a change from what she's been + accustomed to," said Mrs. Hamon quietly. "She came in once or + twice, but her talk is of things that don't interest us, and ours + is of things that don't interest her, so we can't get as friendly + as we would like to be."</p> + + <p>"And Tom?"</p> + + <p>"Tom considers us all robbers, as he always has done. He gives + us his blackest face whenever he sees any of us."</p> + + <p>"That's unpleasant, seeing you're such close neighbours."</p> + + <p>"Yes, it's unpleasant, but we can't help it. It's just Tom. + How is your work getting on?"</p> + + <p>"Not as I would wish," said Gard, with a gloomy wag of the + head. "Your Sark men are difficult—very difficult, and the + others who ought to know better, and who do know + better"—with more than a touch of warmth—"go on as + though I was a slave-driver."</p> + + <p>"Sark men are hard to drive," said Mrs. Hamon + sympathetically.</p> + + <p>"They know perfectly well that I want only what is just and + right to the shareholders. They expect their pay to the last + penny, but when I insist on a proper return for it they look at + me as if they'd like to knock me on the head. It's disheartening + work. I've been tempted at times to throw it all up and go back + to England"—at which Nance's heart gave so unusual a little + kick that she had difficulty in frowning it into quietude, and + just then Bernel came in with his gun and a couple of + rabbits.</p> + + <p>"Who's going to England?" he asked. "I'll go too."</p> + + <p>"No you won't," said Nance sharply. "We want you here."</p> + + <p>"It's as dull as Beauregard pond and as dirty, since the + m—aw—um!" with a deprecatory glance at Gard.</p> + + <p>"You'd find most busy places just as dirty," said Gard.</p> + + <p>"Then I'll go to sea. That's clean at all events."</p> + + <p>"Let's hope things will brighten a bit. You wouldn't find the + fo'c'sle of a trader as comfortable as La Closerie, my + boy,"—and they fell to on their dinner and left the matter + there.</p> + + <p>"Dites-donc, Nannon, ma petite," said Mrs. Tom to Nance, a day + or two later, "who is the joli gars who comes each day to see + you?"</p> + + <p>"Mr. Gard from the mines comes up here to get his dinner, if + that's what you mean."</p> + + <p>"Oh—ho! He comes for his dinner, does he? And is that + all he comes for, little Miss Modesty?"</p> + + <p>"That's all," said Nance solemnly.</p> + + <p>"Oh yes, without a doubt, that's all. I think I'll ask him + next time I see him. Why doesn't he go home for his dinner like + other people?"</p> + + <p>"He's living at Plaisance now and it's far to go. He used to + live here, you know."</p> + + <p>"Ma foi, no, I didn't know. He used to live here? And why did + he go to Plaisance then?"</p> + + <p>"We hadn't room for him, you see."</p> + + <p>"But, Mon Dieu, we have room and to spare! There are those two + bedrooms empty. Why shouldn't he—"</p> + + <p>But Nance shook her head at that.</p> + + <p>"Why then?" demanded Mrs. Tom, with visions of some one + besides Tom to talk to of an evening—a good-looking, + sensible one too. "Why?"</p> + + <p>"He and Tom don't get on well together—"</p> + + <p>"Pardi, I'm not surprised at that. It would need an angel out + of heaven to get on with him sometimes. What induced me ever to + marry such a grumbler I don't know. I wonder if Monsieur + What-is-it?—Gard—would come back if I could arrange + it?"</p> + + <p>But Nance shook her head again.</p> + + <p>"Ah—ha, ma garche, and you would sooner he did + not—is it not so?"</p> + + <p>"I'm quite sure he and Tom would never get on together, and I + don't think Mr. Gard would come."</p> + + <p>"It's worth trying, however. He would be some one to talk to + of an evening any way."</p> + + <p>And so, when Tom came in that evening, she tackled him on the + subject.</p> + + <p>"Say then, mon beau,"—and as she said it she could not + but contrast his slouching bulk with the straight, well-knit + figure of the other—"why should we not take in a lodger as + all the rest do? Our two rooms there are empty and—"</p> + + <p>"Who's the lodger?"</p> + + <p>"There is one comes up every day to dinner next door, and + would stop there altogether if they had the room. Tiens, what's + this his name is? He's from the mines—"</p> + + <p>"You mean Gard—the manager," scowled Tom.</p> + + <p>"That's it—Monsieur Gard. Why shouldn't he—"</p> + + <p>"Because I'd break his head if I got the chance, and he knows + it. Comes up there to dinner, does he? How long's he been doing + that?"</p> + + <p>"For a week now. Couldn't you get over your bad feeling? It + would be money in our pockets."</p> + + <p>"No, I couldn't, and he wouldn't come if you asked him."</p> + + <p>"Will you let me try?"</p> + + <p>"I tell you he won't come."</p> + + <p>"In that case there's no harm in trying. If I can persuade + him, will you promise to be civil to him, and not try to break + his head?"</p> + + <p>"He won't come, I tell you."</p> + + <p>"And I say he may."</p> + + <p>"And you'll nag and nag till you get your own way, I + suppose."</p> + + <p>"Of course. What's the use of a woman's tongue if she can't + get her own way with it? Will you promise to behave properly if + he comes?"</p> + + <p>"I'll behave if he behaves," he growled sulkily. "But we'll + neither of us get the chance. He won't come."</p> + + <p>"Eh bien, we'll see!"</p> + + <p>And when Gard came up to dinner next day, she was leaning over + the gate waiting for him, very tastefully dressed according to + her lights, and with an engaging smile on her face.</p> + + <p>"Dites donc, Monsieur Gard," she said pleasantly. "Our little + Nannon was telling me you regretted having to live so far away. + Why should you not come back and occupy your old room? It is + lying empty there, and I would do my very best to make you + comfortable, and you would be close to your friends all the time + then, instead of having to go across that frightful + Coupée."</p> + + <p>"It is very kind of you, madame," and he stared back at her in + much surprise, and found himself wondering what on earth had made + her marry such a man as Tom Hamon. For she was undeniably + good-looking and had all a Frenchwoman's knack of making the very + best of all she had—abundant black hair, very neatly + twisted up at the back of her head; white teeth and full red + lips; straight, well-developed figure very neatly dressed; and + large black eyes which looked capable of so many things, that + they found it difficult to settle for any length of time to any + one expression.</p> + + <p>"It is very kind of you, madame," said Gard, "but—" and + he stood looking at her and hesitating how to put it.</p> + + <p>"You mean about Tom," she laughed. "But that is all past. I + have spoken to him, and he promises to behave himself quite + properly if you will come. Voilà!"</p> + + <p>Just for a moment the possibilities of the suggestion caught + his mind. He would be near Nance all the time. He would be saved + much tiresome walking to and fro. Especially he would be saved + that passage of the Coupée, which at night, even with a + lantern, was not a thing one easily got accustomed to, and on + stormy nights was enough to make one's hair fly. Then this woman + was very different from his present landlady, and would probably, + he thought, have different notions of comfort.</p> + + <p>The quick black eyes caught something of what was in him: and + he, as suddenly, caught something of what lurked, consciously or + unconsciously, in them, and a little tremor of repugnance shook + his heart and braced him back to reason.</p> + + <p>He shook his head. "It would not do, madame. He and I would + never get on together, no matter how hard we tried. I thank you + for the offer all the same," and he made as though to pass + her.</p> + + <p>"I wish you would come," she said, and laid a pleading hand on + his arm. "I'm sure he would try to behave. I can generally manage + him except when he's been drinking. Then I'm afraid of him, and + wish some one else was at hand. But that's only when he's been + out all night at the fishing, and it's soon over and done with. + Do come, monsieur!"—It was almost a whisper now, and she + leaned towards him—the rich dark face—the great + solicitous eyes.</p> + + <p>But she had mistaken her man. Perhaps she had not met many + like him.</p> + + <p>He shook off her hand almost brusquely.</p> + + <p>"It is impossible, madame. I could not," and he pushed past + just as Nance came to the door.</p> + + <p>She had seen him coming, heard their voices outside, and + wondered what was keeping him.</p> + + <p>She turned back into the house when she saw Julie, wondering + still more. For Gard's face was disturbed, and had in it + something of the look she had seen more than once when he had + faced Tom in his tantrums.</p> + + <p>And, glancing past him, she had seen what he had + not—Julie's face when he turned his back on her.</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu!" gasped Nance to herself, and went in wondering.</p> + + <p>"She and Tom wanted me to take my old room again, and I + refused," was all he said.</p> + + <p>"Tom wanted you to go there?" said Mrs. Hamon in + amazement.</p> + + <p>"So she said."</p> + + <p>Grannie's disparaging sniff was charged with libel.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;'> + + <p>"Well?" asked Tom of his wife, when he came in later on with + Peter Mauger, who had come over for supper. "Got your + lodger?"</p> + + <p>"No."</p> + + <p>"That's what I told you," with a provocative laugh.</p> + + <p>"Oh, he'd have come quick enough."</p> + + <p>"Would, would he? Then why didn't he?"</p> + + <p>"I wouldn't trust myself alone in the house with that + man."</p> + + <p>"Ah!" said Tom, staring at her. "Always thought he was a bad + lot myself, didn't I, Peter?"</p> + + <p>Peter nodded.</p> + + <p>"It's a wonder to me that Mrs. Hamon lets him run after that + girl of hers as she does," said Julie.</p> + + <p>"If I catch him up to any of his tricks I'll break his head + for him."</p> + + <p>"Maybe it would be a good thing for little Nance if you + did."</p> + + <p>"Knew he was a toad as soon as I set eyes on him, so did + Peter. Didn't you, Peter?"</p> + + <p>Peter nodded.</p> + + <p>"What d'he say to you?" demanded Tom.</p> + + <p>"Didn't say much. Asked if you were much away at the fishing + and that. But the way he looked at me!—I've got the shivers + down my back yet," and a virtuous little shudder shook her and + made a visible impression on Peter.</p> + + <p>"Peter and me'll maybe have a word with him one of these days, + won't we, Peter?"</p> + + <p>"Maybe," said Peter.</p> + + <p>"We don't want toads like Gard running off with any of our + Sark girls, do we, Peter?"</p> + + <p>"No," said Peter.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Gard had better look out for himself or take himself off + before somebody does it for him. There's plenty wouldn't mind + giving him a crack on the head and slipping him over the + Coupée some dark night."</p> + + <p>As to such extreme measures Peter offered no opinion. He + looked vaguely round the big kitchen as though in search of + something that used to be there, and said—</p> + + <p>"How about supper?"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + <h3>HOW THEY WENT THROUGH THE DARKNESS OF THE NARROW WAY</h3> + + <p>One dark night Gard sauntered down the cutting towards the + Coupée, enjoying a last pipe before turning in.</p> + + <p>This had become something of a habit with him. The people of + Plaisance, hard at work all day in the fields, went early to bed + and left him to follow when he pleased. And to stand securely in + that deep cleft, just where the protecting walls broke off short + and left the narrow path to waver on into the darkness, was + always fascinating to him.</p> + + <p>When the moon flooded the gulf on the left with shimmering + silver, and the waves broke along the black rocks below in crisp + white foam like silver frost, he would stand by the hour there + and never tire of it.</p> + + <p>The moon cast such a mystic glamour over those great voids of + darkness and over the headlands, melting softly away, fold behind + fold, on the right, while Little Sark became a mystery land into + which the white path rambled enticingly and invited one to + follow.</p> + + <p>And to him, as his eyes followed it till it disappeared over + the crown of the ridge, it was more than a mystery land—a + land of promise, rich in La Closerie and Nance.</p> + + <p>Always within him, as he watched, was the feeling that if the + sweet slim figure should come tripping down the moonlit path + towards him, he would be in no way astonished. When he stood + there, watching, it seemed to him that it would be entirely + fitting for her to come so, in the calm soft light that was as + pure and sweet as herself.</p> + + <p>And at times his eye would light on the grim black pile of + L'Etat, lying out there in the silvery shimmer like some great + monumental cairn, a rough and rugged heap of loneliness and + mystery—the grimmer and lonelier by reason of the twinkling + brightness of its setting. And then his thoughts would play about + the lonely pile, and come back with a sense of homely relief to + the fairy path which Nance's little feet had trod, in light and + dark, and storm and shine, since ever she could walk.</p> + + <p>He pictured her as a tiny girl running fearlessly across the + grim pathway to school, dancing in the sunshine, bending to the + storm, and all alone when she had been kept in—he wondered + with a smile what she had been kept in for.</p> + + <p>He thought of her, as he had seen her, walking to church, her + usually blithe spirit tuned to sedateness by the very fact, and, + to him, delightfully stiffened by the further fact that she, + almost alone among her friends and school-fellows, wore Island + costume, while all the rest flaunted it in all the colours of the + rainbow. And he laughed happily to himself, for very joy, at + thought of the sweet elusive face in the shadow of the great + sun-bonnet. There was not a face in all Sark to compare with it, + nor, for him, in all the world.</p> + + <p>But this night, as be stood there pulling slowly at his pipe + and thinking of Nance, was one of the black nights.</p> + + <p>Later on there would be a remnant of a moon, but as yet the + sky above was an ebon vault without a star, and the gulfs at his + feet were pits of darkness out of which rose the voices of the + sea in solemn rhythmic cadence.</p> + + <p>Down in Grande Grève, on his right, the waves rolled in + almost without a sound, as though they feared to disturb the + darkness. From the intervening moments he could tell how slowly + they crept to their curve. Their fall was a soft sibilation, a + long-drawn sigh. The ever-restless sea for once seemed falling to + sleep.</p> + + <p>And then, as he listened into the darkness, a tiny elfish + glimmer flickered in the void below, flickered and was gone, and + he rubbed his eyes for playing him tricks. But the next wave + broke slowly round the wide curve of the bay in a crescent of + lambent flame, and a flood of soft, blue-green fire ran swelling + up the beach and then with a sigh drew slowly back, and all was + dark again. Again and again—each wave was a miracle of + mystic beauty, and he stood there entranced long after his pipe + had gone dead.</p> + + <p>And as he stood gazing down at the wonder of it, his ear + caught the sound of quick light footsteps coming towards him + across the Coupée, and he marvelled at the intrepidity of + this late traveller. If he had had to go across there that night, + he would have gone step by step, with caution and a lantern; + whereas here was no hesitation, but haste and assurance.</p> + + <p>It was only when she had passed the last bastion, and was + almost upon him, that he made out that it was a girl.</p> + + <p>His heart gave a jump. She had been so much in his thought. + Yet, even so, it was almost at a venture that he said—</p> + + <p>"Nance?"</p> + + <p>And yet, again, he had learned to recognize her footsteps at + the farm, and where the heart is given the senses are subtly + acute, and she had slackened her pace somewhat as she drew + near.</p> + + <p>"Yes; I am going to the doctor."</p> + + <p>"Why—who—?"</p> + + <p>"Grannie is ill—in pain. He will give me something to + ease her." He had turned and was walking by her side.</p> + + <p>"I am sorry. You will let me go with you?"</p> + + <p>"There is no need at all—"</p> + + <p>"No need, I know; but all the same it would be a pleasure to + me to see you safely there and back."</p> + + <p>She hurried on without speaking. If there had been any light, + and he had dared to peep inside the black sun-bonnet, he might + perhaps have found the hint of a smile overlaying her anxiety on + Grannie's account.</p> + + <p>By the ampler feel of things, and the easing of the slope, he + knew they were out of the cutting, and presently they were + passing Plaisance.</p> + + <p>"If you would sooner I did not walk with you, I will fall + behind; but I couldn't stop here and think of you going on + alone," he said.</p> + + <p>"That would be foolishness," she said gently. "But there is + really no need. I have no fears of ghosts or anything like + that."</p> + + <p>"There might be other kinds of spirits about," he said + quietly. "And when men drink as some of my fellows do, they are + no respecters of persons. But this is surely very sudden. Your + grandmother seemed all right at dinner-time."</p> + + <p>"She had bad pains in the afternoon, and they have been + getting worse. She did not want to have the doctor, but the + things she took did her no good, and mother said I had better go + and ask him for something more."</p> + + <p>"And where is Bernel?"</p> + + <p>"He went to the fishing with Billy Mollet, and he was not + back."</p> + + <p>"And suppose the doctor is not in?"</p> + + <p>"They will know where he is, and I will go after him."</p> + + <p>"Did you see those wonderful waves of fire as you came across + the Coupée?"</p> + + <p>"I have seen them often. When there is more sea on, and it + breaks on the rocks, it is finer still. It is something in the + water, Mr. Cachemaille told me."</p> + + <p>"I heard your footsteps down there on the Coupée, but I + couldn't see a sign of you till you were almost against me."</p> + + <p>"I saw from the other side that some one was there, but I + could not see who."</p> + + <p>"You have most wonderful eyes in Sark."</p> + + <p>"It is never quite dark to me on the darkest night. I suppose + it is with being used to it."</p> + + <p>"You'll have to help me across the Coupée."</p> + + <p>"And how will you get back?"</p> + + <p>"The moon will be up, and then I can see all right. I don't + need much light, but I've not been brought up to see through + solid black."</p> + + <p>The doctor was fortunately in, and knew by ample experience + what would ease Grannie's pains. So presently they were hurrying + back along the dark road.</p> + + <p>As they turned the corner by Vauroque an open doer cast a + great shaft of light across the darkness, and there, just as on a + previous occasion, on the wall lounged half-a-dozen men, and + among them was Tom Hamon, who had come up to have a drink with + his friend Peter.</p> + + <p>At sight of him, Nance bent her head and tried to shrink into + herself as she hurried past.</p> + + <p>But Tom had seen her, and the sight of her alone with Gard at + that time of night roused the virtuous indignation, and other + more potent spirits, within him.</p> + + <p>He sprang down into the road, shouting what sounded like a + spate of curses in the patois.</p> + + <p>Gard stopped and turned, with a keen recollection of the same + thing having happened before. He remembered too how that occasion + ended.</p> + + <p>But Nance laid an entreating hand on his arm.</p> + + <p>"Please—don't!"</p> + + <p>Her voice sounded a little strange to him. If he had been able + to see her face now he would have found it pallid, in spite of + its usual healthy brown bloom.</p> + + <p>She stood entreatingly till he turned and went on with + her.</p> + + <p>"He is evidently aching for another thrashing," he said + grimly, as he stalked beside her.</p> + + <p>And presently they were in the cutting, and the unnerving + vastness of the gulfs opened out on either side. Gard felt like a + blindfolded man stumbling along a plank.</p> + + <p>He involuntarily put out a groping hand and took hold of her + cloak. A little hand slipped out of the cloak and took his in + charge, and so they went through the darkness of the narrow + way.</p> + + <p>He breathed more freely when the further slope was reached, + and only then became aware that the hand that held his was all of + a tremble. The next moment he perceived that she was sobbing + quietly.</p> + + <p>"Nance!" he cried. "What is it? You are crying. Is it anything + I—"</p> + + <p>"No, no, no!" sobbed the wounded soul convulsively.</p> + + <p>"What then? Tell me!"</p> + + <p>"I cannot. I cannot."</p> + + <p>"Nance—dear!" and he sought her hand again and stood + holding it firmly. "It is like stabs in my heart to hear you + sobbing. I would give my life to save you from trouble. Do you + believe me, dear?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes—"</p> + + <p>"And you can trust me, dear, can you not? You distrusted me at + first, I know, but—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I do trust you, and I know you are good. And it is that + that makes it so wicked of him to say such things about + us—"</p> + + <p>In her excitement she had let slip more than she intended. She + stopped abruptly.</p> + + <p>"Tom?"</p> + + <p>She did not speak, but the wound welled open in another + sob.</p> + + <p>"Don't trouble about him, dear! I don't know what he said, but + if it was meant to make you doubt me, it was not true. You are + more to me than anything in the world, Nance, and I have never + loved any other woman—except my mother. Do you believe + me?"</p> + + <p>"Yes—oh, yes! I cannot help believing you. Oh, I wish + sometimes that Tom was dead. When I was very little I used to + pray each night to God to kill him."</p> + + <p>"I'll teach him to leave you alone."</p> + + <p>"I must go now. Grannie is waiting for her medicine."</p> + + <p>He took the little hand under his arm and pressed it close to + his side, and they pushed on down the dark lanes till they came + in sight of the lights of La Closerie.</p> + + <p>Then he bent into the sun-bonnet and sealed his capture of the + virginal fortress by a passionate kiss on the tremulous little + lips. And she, with the frankness of a child, reached up and + kissed him warmly back.</p> + + <p>"Good-night, dear, and God bless you!" he said fervently.</p> + + <p>"Can you find your way in the dark?"</p> + + <p>"There is the moon. I shall be all right."</p> + + <p>She bent her head and ran on towards the lights. He watched + her go in at the door, and turned and went back along the lane, + and his heart was high with the joy that was in him.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + + <h3>HOW TWO FELL OUT</h3> + + <p>It was but a thin strip of a moon that had risen above the + evening mists—a mere sickle of red gold—but such as + it was it sufficed to lift the pall of darkness from the earth + and set the black sky back into its proper place.</p> + + <p>To Gard the night had suddenly become spacious and ample, and + the peaceful slip of a moon, which grew paler and brighter every + minute, was full of promise.</p> + + <p>He was so full of Nance that he had almost forgotten Tom and + his scurrilous insolences.</p> + + <p>He crossed the Coupée without any difficulty, enjoyed + over again the recollection of that last crossing, and stood in + the cutting on the Sark side for a moment to marvel at the change + an hour had made in his outlook on things in general.</p> + + <p>Tom? Why, he could almost forgive Tom, for it was he who had + helped to bring matters to a head—unconsciously, indeed, + and probably quite against his wish. Still, he had been the + instrument—the drop of acid in the solution which had + crystallized their love into set form and made it visible, and + fixed it for life.</p> + + <p>Truly, he was half inclined to consider himself under + obligation to Tom—if only his boorishness could be kept in + check for the future. For, of a certainty, he was not going to + allow Nance to be made miserable by his loutish insolences.</p> + + <p>He had climbed the cutting and was on the level, when he heard + heavy footsteps coming towards him, and the next moment he was + face to face with the object of his thoughts.</p> + + <p>Possibly Tom had expected to meet him and had been preparing + for the fray, for he opened at once with a volley of patois which + to Gard was so much blank cartridge.</p> + + <p>"Oh—ho, le velas—corrupteur! Amuseur! + Séducteur! Ou quais noutre fille? Quais qu'on avait fait + d'elle d'on?"</p> + + <p>"Quite finished?" asked Gard quietly, as the other came to a + stop for want of breath. "Say it all over again in English, and + I'll know what you're talking about."</p> + + <p>"English be——!" he broke out afresh, in a turgid + mixture of tongues. "Séducteur, amuseur! Where's our + Nance? Gaderabotin, what have you done with the girl? I know you, + corrupteur! Running after men's wives—and our Nance, too! + See then—you touch la garche and I'll—"</p> + + <p>"See here! We've had enough of this," said Gard, gripping him + by the shoulders and shaking him. "If you weren't drunk I'd + thrash you within an inch of your life, you brute. Come back when + you're sober, and I'll give you a lesson in manners."</p> + + <p>Tom had been struggling to get his arms up. At last he + wrenched himself free and came on like a bull. One of his + flailing fists caught Gard across the face, flattening his nose + and filling one eye with stars; the other hand, trying to grip + his opponent, ripped open his coat, tearing away both button and + cloth.</p> + + <p>"You lout!" cried Gard, his blood up and dripping also from + his nose. "If you must have it, you shall;" and he squared up to + him to administer righteous punishment.</p> + + <p>And then the futility of it came upon him. The man was + three-parts drunk, in no condition for a fight, scarce able to + attempt even to defend himself.</p> + + <p>No punishment of Tom drunk would have the slightest moral + effect on Tom sober. He would remember nothing about it in the + morning, except that he had been knocked about.</p> + + <p>When he received his next lesson in deportment it was Gard's + earnest desire and hope that it might prove a lasting and final + one.</p> + + <p>So he decided to postpone it, and contented himself with + warding and dodging his furious lunges and rushes, and gave him + no blow in return. Until, at last, after one or two heavy falls + of his own occasioning, Tom gave it up, spluttered a final + commination on his opponent, and turned to go home.</p> + + <p>He went blunderingly down into the hollow way, and Gard stood + watching him in doubt.</p> + + <p>It seemed hardly possible he could cross the Coupée in + that state, and he felt a sort of moral responsibility towards + him. Much as he detested him, he had no wish to see him go + reeling over into Coupée bay.</p> + + <p>So he set off after him to see him safely across, and Tom, + hearing him coming, groped in the crumbling side wall till he + found a rock of size, and sent it hurling up the path with + another curse.</p> + + <p>Then he blundered on, and Gard followed. And Tom stopped again + by one of the pinnacles and sought another rock, and flung it, + and it dropped slowly from point to point till it landed on the + shingle three hundred feet below.</p> + + <p>He stood there in the dim light, cursing volubly in patois and + shaking his fist at Gard; but at last, to Gard's great relief, he + humped his back and stumbled away up the cutting on the further + side.</p> + + <p>And Gard, very sick of it all, and with an aching head and a + very tender nose, but withal with a warm glow at the heart which + no aches or pains could damp down, turned and went home to + bed.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + + <h3>HOW ONE FELL OVER</h3> + + <p>Gard's first waking thoughts next morning were of Nance + entirely.</p> + + <p>He would see her at dinner-time. How would he find her? Last + night the disturbance of her feelings had shaken her out of + herself somewhat, and shown her to him in new and delightful + lights.</p> + + <p>If, this morning, she should be to some extent withdrawn again + into her natural modest shell, he would not be surprised; and he + made up his mind, then and there, to be in no wise disappointed. + Last night was a fact, a delightful fact, on which to build the + rosy future.</p> + + <p>It was a long time to wait till dinner-time to see her. What + if he went round that way, before going to work, just to inquire + if Tom got home all right.</p> + + <p>And then the feeling of discomfort in his eye and nose, as + though the one had shrunk to the size of a pin-point and the + other had grown to the bulk of a turnip—brought back the + whole matter, and on further consideration he decided not to go + to the farm till the proper time. If he came across Tom, the fray + would inevitably be resumed at once, and his right eye, at the + moment, showed a decided disinclination to open to its usual + extent, or to perform any of the functions properly demanded of a + right eye contemplating battle.</p> + + <p>He must get up at once and bathe it and bring it to + reason.</p> + + <p>Raw beef, he believed, was the correct treatment under the + circumstances. But raw beef was almost as obtainable as raw moon, + and even raw mutton he did not know where he could procure, nor + whether it would answer the purpose.</p> + + <p>So he bathed his bruises with much water, and reduced their + excesses to some extent, but not enough to escape the eye of his + hostess when he appeared at breakfast.</p> + + <p>"Bin fighting?" she queried dispassionately.</p> + + <p>"A one-sided fight. Tom Hamon was drunk last night and hit me + in the face, but he was not in a condition to fight or I'd have + taught him better manners."</p> + + <p>"He's a rough piece," with a disparaging shake of the head. + "It'd take a lot to knock him into shape. Try this," and she + delved among her stores, and found him an ointment of her own + compounding which took some of the soreness out of his + bruises.</p> + + <p>But black eyes and swollen noses are impertinently obtrusive + and disdainful of disguise, and the captain's battle-flags + provoked no little jocosity among his men that morning.</p> + + <p>"Run up against su'then, cap'n?" asked John Hamon the + engineer, who was one of the few who sided with him.</p> + + <p>"Yes, against a drunken fist in the dark. When it's sober I'm + going to give it a lesson in manners."</p> + + <p>"Drunken fisses is hard to teach. You'll have your hands full, + cap'n."</p> + + <p>It seemed an unusually long morning, but dinner-time came at + last and he hastened across to the farm, eager for the first + sight of the sweet shy face hiding in the big sun-bonnet.</p> + + <p>Quite contrary to his expectations Nance came hurrying to meet + him. She had evidently been on the watch for him. Still more to + his surprise, her face, instead of that look of shy reserve which + he had been prepared for, was full of anxious questioning. The + large dark eyes were full of something he had never seen in them + before.</p> + + <p>"Why—Nance—dear! What is the matter?" he asked + quickly.</p> + + <p>"Did you meet Tom again last night? Oh," at nearer sight of + his bruised face, "you did, you did!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, dear, I did. Or rather he met me—as you see."</p> + + <p>"Did you fight with him?" she panted.</p> + + <p>"He was too drunk to fight. He ran at me and gave me this, and + my first inclination was to give him a sound thrashing. Then I + saw it would be no good, in the condition he was in, so I just + kept him at arm's length till he tired of it. He went off at + last, and I was so afraid he might tumble off the Coupée + that I followed him, and he hurled rocks at me whenever he came + to a stand. But he got across all right, and I went back and went + to bed. Now, what's all the trouble about?"</p> + + <p>"He never came home," she jerked, with a catch in her voice + which thought only of Tom had never put there.</p> + + <p>"Never came home?"</p> + + <p>"And they're all out looking for him."</p> + + <p>"I wonder if he went back to Peter Mauger's.... If he tried to + cross that Coupée again—in the condition he was + in—"</p> + + <p>"He didn't go back to Peter's. Julie went there first of all + to ask."</p> + + <p>"Good Lord, what can have become of him?"</p> + + <p>The answer came unexpectedly round the corner of the + house—Julie Hamon, in a state of utmost dishevelment and + agitation, which turned instantly to venomous fury at the sight + of Gard and Nance.</p> + + <p>Her black hair seemed all a-bristle. Her black eyes flamed. + Her dark face worked like a quicksand. Her skirts were wet to the + waist. Her jacket was open at the top, as though she had wrenched + at it in a fit of choking. Her strong bare throat throbbed + convulsively. Her hands, half closed at her side, looked as + though they wanted something to claw.</p> + + <p>"Did you do it?" she cried hoarsely, stalking up to Gard.</p> + + <p>"Do what?"</p> + + <p>"Kill him."</p> + + <p>"Tom?... You don't mean to say—"</p> + + <p>"You ought to know. He's there in the school-house, broken to + a jelly and his head staved in. And they say it's you he fought + with last night. The marks of it are on your face"—her + voice rose to a scream—"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"</p> + + <p>"You wicked—thing!" cried Nance, pale to the lips.</p> + + <p>"You—you—you!" foamed Julie. "You're as bad as he + is. Because my man tried to save you from + that—murderer—"</p> + + <p>"Oh, you—wicked!—You're crazy," cried Nance, + rushing at her as though to make an end of her.</p> + + <p>And Julie, mad with the strain of the night's anxieties and + their abrupt and terrible ending, uncurled her claws and struck + at her with a snarl—tore off her sun-bonnet, and would have + ripped up her face, if Gard had not flung his arms round her from + the back and dragged her screaming and kicking towards her own + door.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Hamon had come running out at sound of the fray. Gard + whirled the mad woman into her own house and Mrs. Hamon followed + her and closed the door.</p> + + <p>Gard turned to look for Nance.</p> + + <p>She was nervously trying to tie on her sun-bonnet by one + string.</p> + + <p>"Nance, dear," he said, "you don't believe I had anything to + do with this?"</p> + + <p>"Oh no, no! I'm sure you hadn't. But—"</p> + + <p>"But?" he asked, looking down into the pale face and bright + anxious eyes.</p> + + <p>"Oh, they may say you did it. They will think it. They are + sure to think it, and they are so—"</p> + + <p>"Don't trouble about it, dear. I know no more about it than + you do, and they cannot get beyond that. Promise me you won't let + it trouble you."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I will try. But—"</p> + + <p>"Have no fears on my account, Nance. I will go at once and + tell them all I know about it."</p> + + <p>He pressed her hands reassuringly, and she went into the house + with downcast head and a face full of forebodings, and he set off + at once for Sark.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER + XVII</h2> + + <h3>HOW TOM WENT TO SCHOOL FOR THE LAST TIME</h3> + + <p>Mrs. Tom had had a troubled night. Anxiety at her husband's + continued absence had in due time given way to anger, and anger + in its turn to anxiety again.</p> + + <p>In a state of mind compounded of these wearing emotions, she + had set out in the early morning to find out what had become of + him; if he was sleeping off a drunken debauch at Peter Mauger's, + to give them both a vigorous piece of her mind; if he was not + there, to find out where he was; in any case to vent on some one + the pent-up feelings of the night.</p> + + <p>Vigorous hammering on Peter Mauger's door produced first his + old housekeeper, and presently himself, heavy-eyed, dull-witted, + and in flagrant dishabille, since Mrs. Guille had but a moment + ago shaken him out of the sleep of those who drink not wisely + over-night, with the information that a crazy woman wanted him at + the door.</p> + + <p>"Where's Tom?" demanded Julie, ready to empty the vials of her + wrath on the delinquent as soon as he was produced.</p> + + <p>But Peter's manner at once dissipated that expectation.</p> + + <p>"Tom?" he said vaguely, and gazed at her with a bovine + stupidity that jarred her strained nerves like a blow.</p> + + <p>"Yes, Tom—my husband, fool! Where is he?" she asked + sharply.</p> + + <p>"Where is he?" scratching his tousled head to quicken his + wits. "I d'n know."</p> + + <p>"You don't know? What did you do with him last night, you + drunken fool?"—by this time the neighbours had come out to + learn the news.</p> + + <p>Peter gaped at her in astonishment, his muddled wits and + aching head beginning dimly to realize that something was + wrong.</p> + + <p>"Tom left here ... last night ... t'go home," he nodded + emphatically.</p> + + <p>"Well, he never got home," snapped Julie. "And you'd best get + your clothes on and help me find him. You were both as drunk as + pigs, I suppose. If he's lying dead in a ditch it's you that'll + have the blame."</p> + + <p>"Aw now, Julie!"</p> + + <p>"Don't Julie me, you fool! Get dressed and do something."</p> + + <p>"I'll come. You wait," and he went inside, and put his head + into a basin of water, and threw on his clothes, and came out + presently looking anxious and disturbed now that his sluggish + brain had begun to work.</p> + + <p>"Where you been looking?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"Nowhere. I expected to find him here."</p> + + <p>"We had a glass or two and then he started off home. He could + walk all right.... Did you.... You didn't see anything wrong ... + anything ... at the Coupée?" he asked, with a quick + anxious look at her.</p> + + <p>"No, I didn't. What do you mean? Oh, mon Dieu!" and she + started down the road at a run, with Peter lumbering after her + and the neighbours in a buzzing tail behind.</p> + + <p>The cold douche had cooled Peter's hot head, the running + quickened his blood and his thoughts, a sudden grim fear braced + his brain to quite unusual activity.</p> + + <p>As he ran he recalled the events of the night before; their + meeting with Gard and Nance; Tom's scurrilous insults.</p> + + <p>If Tom and Gard had met again—Gard would be sure to see + Nance home. Had he met Tom on his way back? And if so—if + so—and ill had come to Tom—why, Gard might get the + blame. And—and—in short, though by zig-zag jerks as + he ran—if Gard were out of the way for good and all, + Nance's thoughts might turn to one nearer home. He would be sorry + if ill had come to Tom, of course. But if Gard could be got rid + of he would be most uncommonly glad.</p> + + <p>And as he panted after Julie, head down with the burden of + much thinking, just before he reached the sunk way to the + Coupée, his eye lighted on something in the road that + caused him to stop and bend—a button with a scrap of blue + cloth attached. He picked it up hastily and put it in his pocket. + On a white stone just by it there were some red-brown spots. He + pushed it with his foot to the side of the road and was down into + the cutting before the heavy-footed neighbours came up.</p> + + <p>Julie was ranging up and down the narrow pathway, searching + the depths with a face like a hawk, hanging on to the rough sides + of the pinnacles, and bending over in a way that elicited warning + cries from the others as they came streaming down.</p> + + <p>But keenest search of the western slope revealed nothing amid + its tangle of gorse and blackberry bushes, and the eastern cliff + fell so sheer, and had so many projecting lumps and underfalls, + that it was impossible to see close in to the foot.</p> + + <p>And then one, nimbler witted than the rest, climbed out along + the common above the northern cliff, whereby, when he had come to + the great slope, he took the Coupée cliff in flank, and + could spy along its base.</p> + + <p>And suddenly he stopped, and stiffened like a pointer sighting + his bird, peered intently for a moment, and gave tongue.</p> + + <p>The chase was ended. That they had sought, and feared to find, + was found.</p> + + <p>They came hurrying up, and clustered like cormorants on the + slope, Julie among them, her face grim and livid in its black + setting, her eyes blazing fiercely.</p> + + <p>The finder pointed it out. They all saw it—a huddled + black heap close in under the cliff.</p> + + <p>Elevated by his discovery, the finder maintained his + reputation by doing the only thing that could be done. He left + them talking and sped away across the downs, across the fields, + towards Creux harbour.</p> + + <p>He might, if he had known it, have found a boat nearer at + hand, Rouge Terrier way or in Brenière Bay. But he was a + Sark man, and a farmer at that, and knew little and cared less, + of the habits of Little Sark.</p> + + <p>And the rest, falling to his idea, streamed after him, for + that which lay under the cliff could only be gotten out by + boat.</p> + + <p>So to the Creux, panting the news as he went. And there, + willing hands dragged a boat rasping down the shingle, and lusty + arms, four men rowing and one astern sculling and steering at the + same time, sent her bounding over the water as though it were + life she sought, not death. For, though no man among them had any + smallest hope of finding life in that which lay under the cliff, + yet must they strain every muscle, till the labouring boat seemed + to share their anxiety to get there and learn the worst.</p> + + <p>So, out past the Lâches, with the tide boiling round the + point; past Derrible, with its yawning black mouths; past Dixcart + with its patch of sand; under the grim bastions of the Cagnon; + the clean grey cliffs and green downs above, all smiling in the + morning sun; the clear green water creaming among the black + boulders, hissing among their girdles of tawny sea-weeds, + cascading merrily down their rifted sides; round the Convanche + corner, so deftly close that the beauty of the water cave is + bared to them, if they had eye or thought for anything but that + which lies under the cliff in Coupée Bay. And not a word + said all the way—not one word. Jokes and laughter go with + the boat as a rule, and high-pitched nasal patois talk; but + here—not a word.</p> + + <p>The prow runs grating up the shingle, the heavy feet grind + through it all in a line, for none of them has any desire to be + first. Together they bend over that which had been Tom Hamon, and + their faces are grim and hard as the rocks about them. Not that + they are indifferent, but that any show of feeling would be + looked upon as a sign of weakness.</p> + + <p>Under such circumstances men at times give vent to + jocularities which sound coarse and shocking. But they are not + meant so—simply the protest of the rough spirit at being + thought capable of such unmanly weakness as feeling.</p> + + <p>But these men were elementally silent. One look had shown them + there was nothing to be done but that which they had come to + do—to carry what they had found back to the waiting crowd + at the Creux.</p> + + <p>They had none of them cared much for this man. He was not a + man to make close friends. But death had given him a new dignity + among them, and the rough hands lifted him, and bore him to the + boat as tenderly as though a jar or a stumble might add to his + pains.</p> + + <p>And so, but with slower strokes now, as though that slight + additional burden, that single passenger, weighed them to the + water's edge, they crawl slowly back the way they came, logged, + not with water, but with the presence of death.</p> + + <p>The narrow beach between the tawny headlands is black with + people. Up above, on the edge of the cliff, another crowd peers + curiously down.</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal is there at the water's edge, + Philip Guille of La Ville, and the Greffier, William Robert, who + is also the schoolmaster, and Thomas Le Masurier the + Prévôt, and Elie Guille the Constable, and Dr. + Stradling from Dixcart, and the dark-faced, fierce-eyed woman who + cannot keep still, but ranges to and fro in the lip of the tide, + and whom they all know now as the wife—the Frenchwoman, + though some of them have never seen her before.</p> + + <p>A buzz runs round as the boat comes slowly past the point of + the Lâches. The woman stops her caged-beast walk and stands + gazing fiercely at it, as if she would tear its secret out of it + before it touched the shore.</p> + + <p>The watchers on the cliff have the advantage. Something like a + thrill runs through them, something between a sigh and a groan + breaks from them.</p> + + <p>The woman wades out to meet the boat. She sees and screams, + and chokes. The wives on the beach groan in sympathy.</p> + + <p>The body is lifted carefully out and laid on the cool grey + stones, and the woman stands looking at it as a tiger may look at + her slaughtered mate.</p> + + <p>"Stand back! Stand back!" cries the Sénéchal to + the thronging crowd; and to the Constable, "Keep them back, you, + Elie Guille!" to which Elie Guille growls, "Par madé, but + that's not easy, see you!"</p> + + <p>The Doctor straightens up from his brief examination, and says + a word to the Sénéchal, and to the men about + him.</p> + + <p>A rough stretcher is made out of a couple of oars and a sail, + and the sombre procession passes through the gloomy old tunnel + into the Creux Road, and wends its way up to the school-house for + proper inquiry to be made as to how Tom Hamon came by his + death.</p> + + <p>And close behind the stretcher walks the dark-faced woman, + with her eyes like coals of fire, and her dress dragged open as + though to stop her from choking.</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" she says in + perpetual iteration, through her clenched teeth. But to look at + her face and eyes you might think it was rather the devil she was + calling on.</p> + + <p>For, ungracious as their lives had been in many respects, yet + this violent breaking of the yoke has left the survivor sore and + wounded, and furious to vent her rage on whom at present she + knows not.</p> + + <p>She is not allowed inside the school-house—hastily + cleared of its usual occupants, who dodge about among the crowd + outside, enjoying the unlooked-for holiday with gusto in spite of + its gruesome origin—and so she prowls about outside, and + the neighbours talk and she hears this, that, and the other, and + presently, with bitter, black face and rage in her heart, she + goes off home to find out Stephen Gard if she can, and accuse him + to his face of the murder of her husband.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER + XVIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW PETER'S DIPLOMACY CAME TO NOUGHT</h3> + + <p>Peter Mauger had kept himself carefully beyond the range of + Julie's wild black eyes. In the state she was in there was no + knowing what she might do or say. And the words even of a mad + woman sometimes stick like burrs. He began to breathe more freely + when she whirled away home.</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal and Constable came out of the + school-house at last with very grave faces.</p> + + <p>"The Doctor says his head was staved in with the blows of some + round blunt thing like a mallet," said the Sénéchal + to the gaping crowd, "and we must hold a proper inquiry. Any of + you who saw Tom Hamon last night will be here at two o'clock to + tell us all you know. Tell any others who know anything about it + that they must be here too," and he went back into the + school-house, and the buzzing crowd dispersed, with plenty to + buzz about now in truth.</p> + + <p>Peter Mauger went thoughtfully home. He had had no breakfast, + and was feeling the need of it, and he had something in his mind + that he wanted to think out.</p> + + <p>And as he ate he thought, slowly and ruminatingly, and with + many pauses, when his jaws stopped working to give his mind freer + play, but still very much to the purpose, and as soon as he had + done he set out to put his project into execution.</p> + + <p>Just beyond the Coupée he met Gard hurrying towards + Sark, and the state of Gard's nose and eye, and his torn coat, + caught his eye at once.</p> + + <p>"What's this about Tom Hamon?" asked Gard hastily.</p> + + <p>"He's dead."</p> + + <p>"His wife has just told me so. But how did it happen?"</p> + + <p>"They're going to find out at school-house at two o'clock. Any + that saw him last night are to be there. You'd better be + there."</p> + + <p>"I'm going now."</p> + + <p>"All right," said Peter, and went on his way into Little + Sark.</p> + + <p>His way took him to La Closerie. But he was not anxious to + meet Mrs. Tom, so he hung about behind the hedges till Nance + happened to come out of the house, and then he whistled softly + and beckoned to her to come to him.</p> + + <p>Her face was very pale and troubled, and he saw she had been + crying.</p> + + <p>"I want to speak to you," he said.</p> + + <p>"What is it?"</p> + + <p>"Come round here. It's important."</p> + + <p>"What is it?" she asked wearily again, when she had joined him + behind the green dyke.</p> + + <p>"It's this, Nance. You—you know I want you. I've always + wanted you—"</p> + + <p>"Oh—don't!" she cried, with protesting hand. "This is no + time. Peter Mauger, for—"</p> + + <p>"Wait a bit! Here's how it is. Doctor says Tom was killed by + some one beating his head in with a hammer or something of the + kind. Now who beat his head in? Who would be most likely to beat + his head in? Not me, for we were mates. Some one that hated him. + Some one that he was always quarrelling with—" Her face had + grown so white that there was no colour even in the trembling + lips. She stared at him with terrified eyes.</p> + + <p>"You know who I mean," he said. "If it wasn't him that did it + I don't know who it was."</p> + + <p>"It wasn't," she jerked vehemently.</p> + + <p>"You'd wish so, of course. But—Look here!—I'm + pretty sure they met again last night after—"</p> + + <p>"Yes, they met, and Tom tried to fight him—"</p> + + <p>"Ah—then!"</p> + + <p>"And he's gone up at once, as soon as he heard that Tom was + found, to tell them all about it."</p> + + <p>"Aw!"—decidedly crestfallen at the wind being taken out + of his sails in this fashion. "I—I thought—maybe I + could help him—"</p> + + <p>"Oh you did, did you?"—plucking up heart at sight of his + discomfiture. "And how were you going to help him?"</p> + + <p>"If he's gone to make a clean breast of it it's all up, of + course. If he'd kept it to himself—"</p> + + <p>"He might have run away, you mean?"</p> + + <p>"Safest for him, maybe. Up above Coupée there's a stone + with blood on it. And I picked up this beside it," and he hauled + out the button and the bit of blue cloth he had found. "I + thought, maybe if he knew about these he might think it safest to + go."</p> + + <p>"Then every one would have the right to say he'd done it, and + he didn't. He knew no more about it than you did."</p> + + <p>"I didn't know anything about it."</p> + + <p>"Well, neither did he, and he's not the kind to run away."</p> + + <p>"Aw, well—I done my best. You'll remember that, Nance. + You know what the Sark men are. He'd be safest away. You tell him + I say so," and he pouched his discounted piece of evidence and + turned and went, leaving Nance with a heavy heart.</p> + + <p>For, as Peter said, she knew what the Sark men were—a + law unto themselves, and slow to move out of the deep-cut grooves + of the past, but, once stirred to boiling point, capable of going + to any lengths without consideration of consequences.</p> + + <p>And therein lay Gard's peril.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + + <h3>HOW THE SARK MEN FELT ABOUT IT</h3> + + <p>Every soul in the Island that could by any means get there, + was in or outside the school-house, mostly outside, long before + the clock struck two. Never in their lives had they hurried + thither like that before.</p> + + <p>A barricade of forms had been made across the room. Within it, + at the school-master's table, sat the Sénéchal, + Philip Guille, and the Doctor, and old Mr. Cachemaille, the + Vicar, ageing rapidly since the tragic death of his good friend, + the late Seigneur; beside them stood the Prévôt and + the Greffier, behind them lay the body of Tom Hamon covered with + a sheet.</p> + + <p>It was a perfect day, with a cloudless blue sky and blazing + sun, and all the windows were opened wide. Those inside dripped + with perspiration, but felt cold chills below their blue + guernseys each time they looked at that stark figure with the + upturned feet beneath the cold white sheet.</p> + + <p>Outside the barricade stood Elie Guille, the Constable, and + his understudy Abraham Baker, the Vingténier, to keep + order and call the witnesses.</p> + + <p>The Seigneur, Mr. Le Pelley, was away or he would undoubtedly + have been there too. In his absence the Sénéchal + conducted the proceedings.</p> + + <p>In the front row of school-desks, scored with the deep-cut + initials of generations of Sark boys, sat the dead man's widow, + tense and quivering, her eyes consuming fires in deep black + wells, her face livid, her hands clenched still as though waiting + for something to rend.</p> + + <p>More than one of the men who sat beside her at the desk found, + with a grim smile, his own name looking up at him out of the + maltreated board. And one nudged his neighbour and pointed to the + name of Tom Hamon, cut deeper than any of the others and with the + N upside down.</p> + + <p>Very briefly the Sénéchal stated that they were + there to find out, if they could, how Tom Hamon came by his + death, and added very gravely, in a deep silence, that after a + most careful examination of the body the Doctor was of opinion + that death had been caused, not by the fall from the + Coupée, which accounted for the dreadful bruises, but by + violent blows on the head with a hammer or some sueh thing prior + to the fall. They wanted to find out all about it.</p> + + <p>The Doctor stood up and confirmed what the + Sénéchal had said, went somewhat more into detail + to substantiate his opinion, and ended by saying, "The head, as + it happens, is less bruised than any other part of the body, + except on the crown, and that is practically beaten in, and not, + I am prepared to swear, by a fall. These wounds were the + immediate cause of death, and they were made before he fell down + the rocks. Besides, he went down feet first. The abrasions on the + legs and thighs prove that beyond a doubt. Then again, the base + of the skull is not fractured, as it most certainly would have + been if he had fallen on his head. Death was undoubtedly the + result of those wounds in the head. It is impossible for me to + say for certain with what kind of weapon they were made, but it + was probably something round and blunt."</p> + + <p>"Now," said the Sénéchal, when the Doctor had + finished, and the hum and the growl which followed had died down + again, "will any of you who know anything about this matter come + forward and tell us all you know?"</p> + + <p>Stephen Gard stood up at once and all eyes settled on him. + Then Peter Mauger was pushed along from the back, with friendly + thumps and growling injunctions to speak up. But the looks + bestowed on Gard were of quite a different quality from those + given to Peter, and the men at the table could not but notice + it.</p> + + <p>"We will take Peter Mauger first. Let him be sworn," said the + Sénéchal, and Gard sat down.</p> + + <p>The Greffier swore Peter in the old Island fashion—"Vous + jurez par la foi que vous devez à Dieu que vous direz la + vérité, et rien que la vérité, et + tous ce que vous connaissez dans cette cause, et que Dieu vous + soit en aide! (You swear by the faith which you owe to God that + you will tell the truth, and only the truth, and all that you + know concerning this case, and so help you God!)"</p> + + <p>Peter put up his right hand and swore so to do.</p> + + <p>"Now tell us all you know," said the + Sénéchal.</p> + + <p>And Peter ramblingly told how he and Tom had been drinking + together the night before, and how Tom had started off home and + he had gone to bed.</p> + + <p>"Were you both drunk?"</p> + + <p>"Well—"</p> + + <p>"Very well, you were. Did you think it right to let your + friend go off in that condition when he had to cross the + Coupée?"</p> + + <p>"I've seen him worse, many times, and no harm come to + him."</p> + + <p>"Well, get on!"</p> + + <p>He told how Mrs. Tom woke him up in the morning, and how they + had all gone in search of the missing man.</p> + + <p>"Was it you that found him?"</p> + + <p>"No, it was Charles Guille of Clos Bourel. But I found + something too."</p> + + <p>"What was it?"</p> + + <p>"This"—and from under his coat he drew out carefully the + white stone with its red-brown spots, and from his pocket the + button and the scrap of blue cloth. And those at the back stood + up, with much noise, to see.</p> + + <p>The men at the table looked at these scraps of possible + evidence with interest, as they were placed before them.</p> + + <p>"Where did you find these things?"</p> + + <p>"Between Plaisance and the Coupée."</p> + + <p>"What do you make of them?"</p> + + <p>"Seemed to me those red spots might be blood. The other's a + button torn off some one's coat."</p> + + <p>"Have you any idea whose blood and whose coat?"</p> + + <p>"The blood I don't know. The button, I believe, is off Mr. + Gard's coat,"—at which another growl and hum went + round.</p> + + <p>"And you know nothing more about the matter?"</p> + + <p>"That's all I know."</p> + + <p>"Very well. Sit down. Mr. Gard!" and Gard pushed his way among + unyielding legs and shoulders, and stood before the grave-faced + men at the table.</p> + + <p>They all knew him and had all come to esteem what they knew of + him. They knew also of his difficulties with his men, and that + there was a certain feeling against him in some quarters. Not one + of them thought it likely he had done this dreadful thing. + But—there was no knowing to what lengths even a decent man + might go in anger. All their brows pinched a little at sight of + his torn coat and missing button.</p> + + <p>He was duly sworn, and the Sénéchal bade him + tell all he knew of the matter.</p> + + <p>"That button is mine," he said quietly, holding out the lapel + of his coat for all to see. "If there is blood on that stone it + is mine also"—at which a growling laugh of derision went + round the spectators.</p> + + <p>Gard flushed at this unmistakable sign of hostility. The + Sénéchal threatened to turn them all out if + anything of the kind happened again, and Gard proceeded to + recount in minutest detail the happenings of the previous + night—so far as they concerned himself and Tom Hamon.</p> + + <p>"What were you doing down at the Coupée at that time of + night?" asked the Sénéchal.</p> + + <p>"I had been having a smoke and was just about to turn in when + I met Miss Hamon hurrying to the Doctor's for some medicine. I + asked her permission to accompany her, and then took her home to + Little Sark. It was when I was coming back that I met Tom + Hamon."</p> + + <p>"Yes, little Nance came to me about half-past ten," said the + Doctor, "I remember I asked her if she was not afraid to go all + that way home alone, and she said she had a friend with her."</p> + + <p>"Was there any specially bad feeling between you and Tom + Hamon?"</p> + + <p>"There had always been bad feeling, but any one who knows + anything about it knows that it was not of my making."</p> + + <p>"Will you explain it to us?"</p> + + <p>"If you say I must. One does not like to say ill things of the + dead."</p> + + <p>"We want to get to the bottom of this matter, Mr. Gard. Tell + us all you know that will help us."</p> + + <p>"Very well, sir, but I am sorry to have to go into that. It + all began through Tom's bad treatment of his stepmother and + step-sister and brother when I lived at La Closerie. I took sides + with them and tried to bring him to better manners. We rarely met + without his flinging some insult after me. They were generally in + the patois, but I knew them to be insults by his manner and by + the way they were greeted by those who did understand."</p> + + <p>"Had you met last night before you met near the + Coupée?"</p> + + <p>"We passed Tom by La Vauroque as we came from the Doctor's. He + shouted something after us, but I did not understand it."</p> + + <p>"You don't know what it was that he said?" an unfortunate + question on the part of the Sénéchal, and quite + unintentionally so on his part. It necessitated the introduction + of matters Gard would fain have kept out of the enquiry.</p> + + <p>"Well," he said, with visible reluctance, "I learned + afterwards, and by accident, something of what he said or + meant."</p> + + <p>"How was that, and what was it?"</p> + + <p>"Is it necessary to go into that? Won't it do if I say it was + a very gross insult?"</p> + + <p>The three at the table conferred for a moment. Then the + Sénéchal said very kindly, "I perceive we are + getting on to somewhat delicate ground, Mr. Gard, but, for your + own sake. I would suggest that no occasion should be given to any + to say that you are hiding anything from the court."</p> + + <p>"Very well, sir, I have nothing whatever to hide, and I have + still less to be ashamed of. I found Miss Hamon was weeping + bitterly at what her brother had said, and I tried to get her to + tell me what it was, but she would not. I said I knew it was + something against me, but I hoped by this time she had learned to + know and trust me. I told her her sobs cut me to the heart and + that I would give my life to save her from trouble. In a word, I + told her I loved her, and in the excitement of the moment she + dropped a word or two that gave me an inkling of what Tom had + said. It was casting dirt at both her and myself. Then, as I came + home, I met Tom as I have told you."</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal considered the matter for a moment. + He did not for one moment believe that Gard had had any hand in + the killing of Tom Hamon. But he could not but perceive the + hostile feeling that was abroad, and his desire was, if possible, + to allay it.</p> + + <p>"It is, I should think," he said gravely, "past any man's + believing that, after asking Tom's sister to marry you, you + should go straight away and kill Tom, even in the hottest of hot + blood, though men at such times do not always know what they are + doing. But you, from what I have seen and heard of you, are not + such a man. I am going to ask you one question in the hope that + your answer may have the effect of setting you right with all who + hear it. Before God—had you any hand in the death of this + man?—have you any further knowledge of the matter + whatever?"</p> + + <p>"Before God," said Gard solemnly, his uplifted right hand as + steady as a rock, "I had no hand in his death. I know nothing + more whatever about the matter."</p> + + <p>"I believe you," said the Sénéchal.</p> + + <p>"And I," said the Doctor.</p> + + <p>"And I," said the Vicar gravely, and with much emotion.</p> + + <p>But from the spectators there rose a dissentient murmur which + caused the Vicar to survey his unruly flock with mild amazement + and disapproval—much as the shepherd might if his sheep had + suddenly shed their fleeces and become wolves.</p> + + <p>And Julie Hamon sprang to her feet with blazing eyes, pointed + a shaking hand at Gard, and screamed:</p> + + <p>"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + + <h3>HOW SARK CRAVED BLOOD FOR BLOOD</h3> + + <p>Stephen Gard walked slowly down the road towards Plaisance in + the lowest of spirits.</p> + + <p>This strange people amongst whom he had fallen, possessed, in + pre-eminent degree, what in these later times is known as the + defects of its qualities.</p> + + <p>Black sheep there were, of course, as there are in every + community, who seemed all defects and possessed of no redeeming + qualities whatever. But, taken as a whole, the men of Sark were + simple, honest according to their lights, brave and hardy, very + tenacious of their own ideas and their island rights, somewhat + stubborn and easier to lead than to drive, and withal + red-blooded, as the result of their ancestry, and given to a + large despite of foreigners, in which category were included all + unfortunates born outside the rugged walls of Sark.</p> + + <p>He had done his best among them, both for their own interests + and those of the mines, but no striving would ever make him other + than a foreigner; and in the depression of spirit consequent on + the trying experiences of the day, he gloomily pondered the idea + of giving up his post and finding a more congenial atmosphere + elsewhere.</p> + + <p>Still, he was a Cornishman, and dour to beat. And, if he had + incurred unreasonable dislike, he had also lighted on the virgin + lode of Nance's love and trust, and that, he said to himself with + a glow of gratitude, outweighed all else.</p> + + <p>He had left the school-house at once when he had given his + evidence, and had heard no more of what had taken place there. + The bystanders had let him pass without any open opposition, but + their faces had been hard and unsympathetic, and he recognized + that life among them would be anything but a sunny road for some + time to come.</p> + + <p>If the people at Plaisance had told him to clear out and find + another lodging he would not have been in the least surprised. + But they had no such thought. In common with all who really got + to know him, they had come to esteem and like him, and they had + no reason to believe that he had had anything to do with Tom + Hamon's death.</p> + + <p>He had pondered these matters wearily till bed-time, and he + turned in at last sick of himself, and Sark, and things + generally. But his brain would not sleep, and the longer he lay + and the more he tossed and turned, the wearier he grew.</p> + + <p>Sleep seemed so impossible that he was half inclined to get up + and dress and go out. The cool night air and the freshness of the + dawn would be better than this sleepless unresting. Suddenly + there came a sharp little tap on his window.</p> + + <p>A bird, he thought, or a bat.</p> + + <p>The tap came again—sharp and imperative.</p> + + <p>He got up quietly and went to the window. The night was still + dark. As he peered into it a hand came up again and tapped once + more and he opened the window.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Gard!"—in a sharp whisper.</p> + + <p>"Nance! What is it, dear? Anything wrong?"</p> + + <p>"I want you—quick."</p> + + <p>"One minute!" and he hastily threw on his things and joined + her outside.</p> + + <p>"What is it, Nance?" he asked anxiously, wondering what new + complication had arisen.</p> + + <p>"I'll tell you as we go. Come!" and they were speeding + noiselessly down the road to the Coupée.</p> + + <p>There she took his hand, as once before, to lead him safely + across, and her hand, he perceived, was trembling violently.</p> + + <p>They were half way along the narrow path when the hollow way + in front leading up into Little Sark resounded suddenly with the + tramp of heavy feet.</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" panted Nance, and he could feel her turn + and look round like a hunted animal.</p> + + <p>"Quick!" she whispered. "Behind here! and oh, grip tight!" and + she knelt and crawled on hands and knees round the base of the + nearest pinnacle.</p> + + <p>In those days the pinnacles which buttress the Coupée + were considerably higher and bulkier than they are now, and along + their rugged flanks the adventurous or sorely-pressed might find + precarious footing. But it was a nerve-racking experience even in + the day-time when the eye could guide the foot. Now, in the + ebon-black night, it was past thinking of.</p> + + <p>Dazed by the suddenness and strangeness of the whole matter, + and without an inkling of what it all meant, Gard clung like a + fly to the bare rock and tried his hardest not to think of the + sheer three hundred feet that lay between him and the black beach + below.</p> + + <p>In grim and menacing silence, save for the crunch of their + heavy feet on the crumbling pathway, the men went past, a dozen + or more, as it seemed to Gard. When the sound of them had died in + the hollow on the Sark side, Nance whispered, "Quick now! + quick!"</p> + + <p>They crawled back into the roadway, and she took his hand in + hers again which shook more than ever, and they sped away into + Little Sark.</p> + + <p>"Now tell me, Nance. What is it all about?" he panted, as she + nipped through an opening in a green bank and led the way towards + the eastern cliffs over by the Pot.</p> + + <p>"Oh—it's you they want," she gasped, and he stopped + instantly and stood, as though he would turn and go back.</p> + + <p>"It is no use," she jerked emphatically, between breaths, and + dragged impatiently at his arm. "You don't know our Sark men.... + They do things first and are sorry after.... Bernel heard them + planning it all.... The men from Sark were to meet these ones, + and then—"</p> + + <p>"But," he said angrily, "running away looks like—"</p> + + <p>"No, no! Not here.... And it is only for a time. The truth + will come out, but it would be too late if they had got you."</p> + + <p>"What would they have done with me?"</p> + + <p>"Oh—terrible things. They are madmen when they are + angry."</p> + + <p>He had yielded to her will, and they were speeding swiftly + along the downs. The path was quite invisible to him. He tripped + and stumbled at times on tangled roots of gorse and bracken, but + she kept on swiftly and unerringly, as though the night were + light about her.</p> + + <p>"Where are you taking me?" he asked, as they crept past the + miners' cottages on the cliff above Rouge Terrier.</p> + + <p>"To Brenière.... To L'Etat.... Bernel went on to find a + boat."</p> + + <p>And presently they were out on the bald cliff-head, and + slipping and sliding down it till they came to the ledge, below + which Brenière spreads out on the water like a giant's + hand.</p> + + <p>Between her panting breaths Nance whistled a low soft note + like the pipe of a sea-bird. A like sound came softly up from + below, and slipping and stumbling again, they were on the beach + among mighty boulders girt with dripping sea-weed.</p> + + <p>Another low pipe out of the darkness, and they had found the + boat and tumbled into it, wet and bruised, and breathless.</p> + + <p>"Dieu merci!" said Bernel, and pulled lustily out to sea.</p> + + <p>The swirl of the tide caught them as they cleared + Brenière Point, and Gard crawled forward to take an oar. + Nance did the same, and so set Bernel free to scull and steer, + the arrangement which dire experience has taught the Sark men as + best adapted to their rock-strewn waters and racing currents.</p> + + <p>Gard's mind was in a tumult of revolt, but he sensibly drove + his feelings through his muscles to the blade of his oar, and + said nothing. Nance and Bernel were not likely to have gone to + these lengths without what seemed to them sufficient reason.</p> + + <p>And he remembered Nance's trembling arm on the Coupée, + and her agonies of fear on his account, and so came by degrees to + a certain acceptance of their view of matters, and therewith a + feeling of gratitude for their labours and risks on his behalf. + For he did not doubt that, should the self-appointed + administrators of justice learn who had baulked them of their + prey, they would wreak upon them some of the vengeance they had + intended for himself.</p> + + <p>He saw that it was no light matter these two had undertaken, + and as he thought it over, and told the black welter under his + oar what he thought of these wild and hot-headed Sark men, his + gratitude grew.</p> + + <p>The thin orange sickle of a moon rose at last, high by reason + of the mists banked thick along the horizon, and afforded them a + welcome glimmer of light—barely a glimmer indeed, rather a + mere thinning of the clinging darkness, but enough for Bernel's + tutored eye.</p> + + <p>He took them in a cautious circuit outside the Quette d'Amont, + the eastern sentinel of L'Etat, and so, with shipped oars, by + means of his single scull astern, brought them deftly to the + riven black ledges round the corner on the south side.</p> + + <p>It is a precarious landing at best, and the after scramble up + the crumbling slope calls for caution even in the light of day. + In that misleading darkness, clinging with his hands and climbing + on the sides of his feet, and starting at startled feathered + things that squawked and fluttered from under his groping hands + and feet, Gard found it no easy matter to follow Nance, though + she carried a great bundle and waited for him every now and + again. When he looked down next day upon the way they had come he + marvelled that they had ever reached the top in safety.</p> + + <p>"Wait here!" she said at last, when they had attained a + somewhat level place, and before he had breath for a word she was + away down again.</p> + + <p>She was back presently with another bundle, and he started + when she thrust into his hands a long gun, and bade him pick up + the first bundle and follow her. The feel of the gun brought home + to him, as nothing else could have done, her and Bernel's views + of possible contingencies.</p> + + <p>He followed her stumblingly along the rough crown of the + ridge, till she dipped down a rather smoother slope and came to a + stand before what seemed to him a heap of huge stones.</p> + + <p>"There is shelter in here," she said. "And these things are + for your comfort. We will bring you more to eat in a day or + two—"</p> + + <p>"Nance, dear," he said, dropping the gun and the bundle, and + laying his hand on her slim shoulder. "I have become a sore + burden to you—"</p> + + <p>"Oh no, no!" she said hastily. "You would have done as much + for me, and it is because—"</p> + + <p>"For you, dear? I would give my life for you, Nance, and here + it is you who are doing everything, and running all these risks + for me."</p> + + <p>"It is because I know they are in the wrong. It may be only a + day or two, and they will thank me when they find out their + mistake."</p> + + <p>"Well, I thank you and Bernel with my whole heart. Please God + I may some time be able to repay you!"</p> + + <p>"If you are safe, that is all we want. Now I must go. We must + get back before they miss us."</p> + + <p>"God keep you, dear!" and he bent and kissed her, and as + before she kissed him back with the frankness of a child.</p> + + <p>He was about to follow her when she turned to go, but she said + imperatively, "Stop here, or you may lose yourself in the dark. + And in the day-time do not walk on the ridge or they may see + you—"</p> + + <p>"And the gun? What is that for?"</p> + + <p>"If they should come here after you, you will keep them off + with it," she said, with a spurt of the true Island spirit. "It + is your life they seek, and they are in the wrong. But no one + ever comes here, and you will not need it. Now, good-bye! And God + have you in His keeping!"</p> + + <p>"And you, dearest—and all yours!"—and she was gone + like a flitting shadow.</p> + + <p>And while he still stood peering into the darkness into which + she had merged, she suddenly materialized again and was by his + side.</p> + + <p>"I forgot. Bernel told me to tell you it throws a little high. + But I hope you won't need it. And there is fresh water among the + rocks at the south end there."</p> + + <p>He caught her to him again, and kissed her ardently, and then + she was gone.</p> + + <p>He strained his ears, fearful of hearing her slip or fall in + the darkness, but she went without displacing a stone, and he was + alone with the sickly moon, and the sombre sky, and the voices of + the rising tide along the grim black ledges of his sanctuary.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + + <h3>HOW LOVE TOOK LOVE TO SANCTUARY</h3> + + <p>It all seemed monstrous strange to him, now that he had time + to think of the actual fact apart from the difficulties of its + accomplishment.</p> + + <p>An hour ago he was lying in his bed at Plaisance, in low + enough spirits, indeed, at the outlook before him, but his + gloomiest thought had never plumbed depths such as this.</p> + + <p>He wondered briefly if so extreme a step had been really + necessary.</p> + + <p>And then he heard again the purposeful tramp of those heavy + feet on the Coupée, and fathomed again the menace of + them.</p> + + <p>And he felt Nance's guiding hand trembling violently in his + once more, and he said to himself that she and Bernel knew better + than he how the land lay, and that he could not have done other + than he had done.</p> + + <p>Then he became aware that the dew was drenching him, and so he + bent and groped in the dark for the shelter Nance had spoken + of.</p> + + <p>The strip of moon had paled as it rose, the huge white stones + glimmered faintly in it, and a darker patch below showed him + where the entrance must be. He crept into the darker patch on his + hands and knees, bumping his head violently, but once inside + found room to sit upright. Snaking out again, he laid hold of the + two bundles and the gun, and dragged them into shelter.</p> + + <p>What the bundles contained he could not tell in the dark, but + one felt like a thick woollen cloak, and the other like a + blanket, and among their contents he felt a loaf of bread, and a + bottle and a powder-flask. So he rolled himself up in the blanket + and the cloak, and lay wondering at the strange case in which he + found himself, and so at last fell asleep.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;'> + + <p>He woke into a dapple of light and shade which filled his + wandering wits with wonder, till, with a start, he came to + himself and remembered.</p> + + <p>The place he was in was something like a stone bee-hive, about + eight feet across from side to side, with a rounded sloping roof + rising at its highest some four feet from the ground, and the + great blocks of which it was built fitted so ill in places that + the sun shot the darkness through and through with innumerable + little white arrows of light. The dark opening of the night was + now a glowing invitation to the day. He shook off his wraps and + crawled out into the open.</p> + + <p>And what an open!</p> + + <p>He drew deep breaths of delight at the magnificence of his + outlook—its vastness, its spaciousness, its wholesome + amplitude and loneliness. He felt like a new man born solitary + into a new world.</p> + + <p>The sky, without a cloud, was like a mighty hollowed sapphire, + in which blazed the clear white sun; and the vast plain of the + sea, sweeping away into infinity, was a still deeper blue, with + here and there long swathes of green, and here and there + swift-speeding ruffles purple-black.</p> + + <p>A brisk easterly breeze set all the face of it a-ripple, and + where the dancing wavelets caught the sun it glanced and gleamed + like sheets of molten silver.</p> + + <p>"A silver sea! A silver sea!" he cried aloud, and into his + mind there flashed an incongruous comparison of the bountifulness + of Nature's silver with the pitiful grains they hacked out of her + rocks with such toil and hardship.</p> + + <p>Away to the south across the silver sea the Jersey cliffs + shone clear in the sunshine, and on the dimpling plain between, + the black Paternosters looked so like the sails of boats heading + for Sark that he remembered suddenly that he was in hiding, and + dropped to cover alongside the great stones of his shelter.</p> + + <p>But careful observation of the square black objects showed him + that they did not move, and anyway they were much too far away to + see him. So he took courage again, and, full of curiosity + concerning his hiding-place, he crept up the southern slope till + he reached the ridge of the roof, so to speak, and lay there + looking over, entranced with the beauty of the scene before + him.</p> + + <p>The whole east coast of Sark right up to the Burons, off the + Creux, lay basking in the morning light. Dixcart and Derrible + held no secrets from him; he looked straight up their shining + beaches. Their bold headlands were like giant-fists reaching out + along the water towards him. Brenière, the nearest point + to his rock, was another mighty grasping hand, but between it and + him swept a furious race of tossing, white-capped waves, with + here and there black fangs of rock which stuck up through the + green waters as though hungering for prey.</p> + + <p>He could just see the upper part of the miners' cottages on + the cliff above Rouge Terrier, but, beyond these and the ruined + mill on Hog's Back, not another sign of man and his toilsome, + troublesome little works. But for these, Sark, in its utter + loneliness, might have been a new-found island, and he its first + discoverer.</p> + + <p>Ranging on, his eye rested on the shattered fragments of + Little Sark, scattered broadcast over the sea about its most + southerly point—bare black pinnacles, ragged ledges, + islets, rocklets, reefs, and fangs, every one of which seemed to + stir the placid sea to wildest wrath. Elsewhere it danced and + dimpled in the sunshine, with only the long slow heave in it to + tell of the sleeping giant below, but round each rock, and up the + sides of his own huge pyramid, it swept in great green combers + shot with bubbling white, and went tumbling back upon itself in + rings of boiling foam.</p> + + <p>Beyond, he saw the rounded back of Jethou, and just behind it + the long line of houses in Guernsey.</p> + + <p>He lay long enjoying it all, with the warm sun on his back, + and the brisk wind toning his blood, but no view, however + wonderful, will satisfy a man's stomach. He had fed the day + before mostly on most unsatisfying emotions, and now he began to + feel the need of something more solid. So he crept back along the + slope to find out what there was for breakfast.</p> + + <p>His stores lay about the floor of his resting-place, just as + he had turned them out in the night; a couple of long loaves, a + good-sized piece of raw bacon, and another of boiled pork which + he thought he recognized, some butter in a cloth, a bottle which + looked as if it might contain spirits, the powder-flask, and a + small linen bag containing bullets, snail-shot, and percussion + caps. These, with Bernel's gun and the blanket, and the old + woollen cloak, which he recognized as Mr. Hamon's roquelaure, and + his pipe, and the tobacco he happened to have in his pouch, + constituted, for the time being, his worldly possessions.</p> + + <p>He spread his cloak and blanket in the sun to dry and air, + and, doubtful whether his rock would supply any further provision + or when more might reach him from Sark, he proceeded to make a + somewhat restricted meal of bread and cold pork.</p> + + <p>The raw bacon suggested something of a problem. To cook it he + must have a fire. To have a fire he must have fuel; his + tinder-box he always carried, of course, for the new matches had + not yet penetrated to Sark. Moreover, to light a fire might be + dangerous as liable to attract attention, unless he could do it + under cover where no stray gleams could get out.</p> + + <p>He pondered these matters as he ate, spinning out his exiguous + meal to its uttermost crumb to make it as satisfying as + possible.</p> + + <p>He saw his way at once to perfecting his cover. All about him + where he sat, the grey rock pushed through a thin friable soil + like the bones of an ill-buried skeleton. And everywhere in the + scanty soil grew thick little rounded cushions, half grass, half + moss, varying in size from an apple to a foot-stool, which came + out whole at a pluck or a kick. After breakfast he would plug up + every hole in his shelter, and pile half-a-dozen sizeable pieces + outside with which to close the front door. Then, if he could + find anything in the shape of fuel, he saw his way to a dinner of + fried bacon, but it would have to be after dark when the smoke + would be invisible.</p> + + <p>But first he must find out about his water supply.</p> + + <p>Down at the south end, Nance had said. That must be over + there, on that almost-detached stack of rocks, where the waves + seemed to break loudest.</p> + + <p>So, after another crawl up to the ridge to make certain that + no boats were about—for he had frequently seen them fishing + in the neighbourhood of L'Etat—he crept down the flank of + his pyramid almost to sea-level to get across to the outer + pile.</p> + + <p>He had to pick his way with caution across a valley of black + rocks, rifted and chasmed by the fury of the waves. He could + imagine—or thought he could, but came far short of + it—how the great green rollers would thunder through that + black gully in the winter storms.</p> + + <p>There were great wells lined all round with rich brown + sea-weeds, and narrow chasms in whose hidden depths the waters + swooked and gurgled like unseen monsters, and whose broken edges, + on which he had to step, were like the rough teeth of gigantic + saws set up on end alongside one another.</p> + + <p>He crawled across these rough serrations and scaled the rifted + black wall in front, and came at once on a number of shallow + pools of rain-water lying in the hollows of a mighty slab.</p> + + <p>But the moment his head rose above the level of the steep + black wall his ears were filled with a deafening roaring and + rushing, supplemented by most tremendous dull thuddings which + shook the stack like the blows of a mighty flail.</p> + + <p>From behind a further wall there rose a boiling mist, through + which lashed up white jets of spray which slanted over the rocks + beyond in a continuous torrent.</p> + + <p>He crawled to the further wall and looked over into a deep + black gully, some fifteen feet wide and perhaps thirty feet deep, + into which, out of a perfectly calm sea, most monstrous waves + came roaring and leaping, till the whole chasm was foaming and + spuming like an over-boiling milk-pan. In the middle of the + chasm, for the further torment of the waters, was jammed a huge + black rock, against which the incoming green avalanche dashed + itself to fragments and went rocketing into the air. The solid + granite at the further end was cleft from summit to base by a + tiny rift a foot wide through which the boiling spume poured out + to the sea beyond.</p> + + <p>But the marvel was where those gigantic waves came from. Save + for the dancing wind-ripples and its long, slow internal + pulsations, the sea was as smooth as a pond to within twenty + yards of the rocks. Then it suddenly seemed to draw itself + together, to draw itself down into itself indeed, like a tiger + compressing its springs for a leap, and then, with a rush and a + roar, it launched itself at the rocks with the weight of the + ocean behind it, and hurtled blindly into the chasm where the + black rock lay.</p> + + <p>It was a most wonderful sight, and Gard sat long watching it, + then and later, fascinated always and puzzled by that + extraordinary self-compression and sudden upleap of the waters + out of an otherwise placid sea.</p> + + <p>It was but one more odd expression of Nature's fantastic + humour, and the nearest he could come to an explanation of it was + that, in the sea bed just there, was some great fault, some huge + chasm into which the waters fell and then came leaping out to + further torment on the rocks.</p> + + <p>It was as he was returning to his own quarters by a somewhat + different route across the valley of rocks, that he lighted on + another find which contented him greatly.</p> + + <p>In one of the saw-toothed chasms he saw a piece of wood + sticking up, and climbed along to get it as first contribution to + his fire. And when he got to it, down below in the gully, he + found jammed the whole side of a boat, flung up there by some + high spring tide and trapped before it could escape. Excellent + wood for his firing, well tarred and fairly dry. He hauled and + pulled till he had it all safely up, and then he carried it, load + after load, to his house, and laid it out in the sun to dry still + more.</p> + + <p>He worked hard all day, keeping a wary outlook for any stray + fishermen.</p> + + <p>First he culled a great heap of the thin wiry grass which + seemed the chief product of his rock, and spread it also to dry + for a couch. There was no bracken for bedding, no gorse for + firing. The grass would supply the place of the one, the broken + boat the other.</p> + + <p>Then he made good all the holes in his walls and roof, except + one in the latter for the escape of the smoke, and built a solid + wall of the tufted cushions round the seaward side of his + doorway, as a screen against his light being seen, and as a + protection from the south-west wind if it should blow up strong + in the night.</p> + + <p>He found it very strange to be toiling on these elemental + matters, with never a soul to speak to. He felt like a castaway + on a desert island, with the additional oddness of knowing + himself to be within reach of his kind, yet debarred from any + communication with them on pain, possibly, of death.</p> + + <p>At times he felt like a condemned criminal, yet knew that he + had done no wrong, and that it was only the mistaken justice of a + simple people that wanted blood for blood, and was not + over-heedful as to whose blood so long as its own sense of + justice was satisfied.</p> + + <p>But, he kept saying to himself, things might have been worse + with him, very much worse, but for Nance and Bernel. And before + long, any day, the matter might be cleared up and himself + reinstated in the opinion of the Sark men.</p> + + <p>Even that would leave much to be desired, but possibly, he + thought, if they found they had sorely misjudged him in this + matter, they might realize that they had done so in other matters + also, and that he had only been striving to do his duty as he saw + it.</p> + + <p>And then, wherever else his thoughts led him, there was always + Nance, and the thought of Nance always set his heart aglow and + braced him to patient endurance and hope.</p> + + <p>He retraced, again and again, all the ways they had travelled + together in these later days, recalled her every word and look, + felt again the trembling of her hand—for him—on the + Coupée, heard again the tremors of her voice as she urged + him to safety. And those sweet ingenuous kisses she had given + him! Yes, indeed, he had much to be grateful for, if some things + to cavil at, in fortune's dealings.</p> + + <p>But, behind all his fair white thought of Nance, was always + the black background of the whole circumstances of the case, and + the grim fact of Tom Hamon's death, and he pondered this last + with knitted brows from every point of view, and strove in vain + for a gleam of light on the darkness.</p> + + <p>Could the Doctor be mistaken, and was Tom's death the simple + result of his fall over the Coupée? The Doctor's + pronouncement, however, seemed to leave no loophole of hope + there.</p> + + <p>If not, then who had killed Tom, and why?</p> + + <p>He could think of no one. He could imagine no reason for + it.</p> + + <p>Tom had been a bully at home, but outside he was on jovial + terms with his fellows—except only himself. He had to + acknowledge to himself the seeming justice of the popular + feeling. If any man in Sark might, with some show of reason, have + been suspected of the killing of Tom Hamon, it was himself.</p> + + <p>Once, by reason of overmuch groping in the dark, an awful + doubt came upon him—was it possible that, in some horrible + wandering of the mind, of which he remembered nothing, he had + actually done this thing? Done it unconsciously, in some + over-boiling of hot blood into the brain, which in its explosion + had blotted out every memory of what had passed?</p> + + <p>It was a hideous idea, born of over-strain and overmuch + groping after non-existent threads in a blind alley.</p> + + <p>He tried to get outside himself, and follow Stephen Gard that + night and see if that terrible thing could have been possible to + him.</p> + + <p>But he followed himself from point to point, and from moment + to moment, and accounted for himself to himself without any lapse + whatever; unless, indeed, his brain had played him false and he + had gone out of the house again after going into it, and followed + Tom and struck him down.</p> + + <p>With what? The Doctor said with some blunt instrument like a + hammer. Where could he have obtained it? What had he done with + it?</p> + + <p>The idea, while it lasted, was horrible. But he shook it off + at last and called himself a fool for his pains. He had never + harboured thought of murder in his life. He had detested Tom, but + he had never gone the length of wishing him dead. The whole idea + was absurd.</p> + + <p>All these things he thought over as, his first essential + labours completed, he lay under the screen of the ridge and + watched the sun dropping towards Guernsey in a miracle of + eventide glories.</p> + + <p>Below him, the long slow seas rocketted along the ragged black + base of his rock with mighty roarings and tumultuous bursts of + foam, and on the ledges the gulls and cormorants squabbled and + shrieked, and took long circling flights without fluttering a + wing, to show what gulls could do, or skimmed darkly just above + the waves and into them, to show that cormorants were never + satisfied. And now and again wild flights of red-billed puffins + swept up from the water and settled out of his sight at the + eastern end of the rock, and he promised himself to look them up + some other day if opportunity offered.</p> + + <p>From the constant tumult of the seas about his rock, except + just at low water, he saw little fear of being taken by surprise, + even if his presence there became known. Twice only in the + twenty-four hours did it seem possible for any one to effect a + landing there, and at those times he promised himself to be on + the alert.</p> + + <p>He lay there till the sun had gone, and the pale green and + amber, and the crimson and gold of his going had slowly passed + from sea and sky, and left them grey and cold; till a single + light shone out on Sark, which he knew must be in one of the + miners' cottages, and many lights twinkled in Guernsey; till + beneath him he could no longer see the sea, but only the white + foam fury as it boiled along the rocks. Then he crept away to his + burrow, rejoicing in the thought of the companionship of a fire + and hot food.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER + XXII</h2> + + <h3>HOW THE STARS SANG OF HOPE</h3> + + <p>It took Gard some time to get his fire started, and when it + did blaze up, with fine spurts of gas from the tar, and vivid + blue and green and red flames from the salted wood, the little + stone bee-hive glowed like an oven and presently grew as hot as + one. The smoke escaped but slowly through the single hole in the + roof, and at last he could stand it no longer, and crept out into + the night until his fire should have burned down to a core of red + ashes over which he could grill his dinner.</p> + + <p>And what a night! He had seen the stars from many parts of the + earth and sea, but never, it seemed to him, had he seen such + stars as these, so close, so large, so wonderfully clean and + bright. And, indeed, glory of the heavens so supreme as that is + possible only far away from man, and all the works and + habitations of man, and all his feeble efforts at the mitigation + of the darkness. Nay, for fullest perception, it may be that it + is necessary for a man to be not only alone in the profundity of + Nature's night, but to be lifted somewhat out of himself and his + natural darkness by extremity of joy, or still more of need.</p> + + <p>The milky way was as white as though a mighty brush dipped in + glittering star-dust had been drawn across the velvet dome. The + larger stars, many of which were old acquaintances and known to + him by name, seemed to swing so clear and close that they took on + quite a new aspect of friendliness and cheer. The smaller—I + write as he thought—a mighty host, an innumerable company + quite beyond his ken, still spoke to him in a language that he + had never forgotten.</p> + + <p>Long ago, when he was quite a little boy, he had come upon a + great globe of the heavens, a much-prized curiosity of his old + schoolmaster. Upon it appeared all the principal stars linked up + into their constellations, the shadowy linking lines forming the + figures of the Imaginary Ones associated with them in the minds + of the ancients. There, on the varnished round of the globe, + ranged the Great and Little Bears, and the Dogs, and the Archer, + and the Flying Horse, the Lion, and the Crab, and the Whale, and + the Twins, and Perseus and Andromeda, and Cassiopeia. And up + there, on the dark inner side of the mighty dome, he seemed to + see them all again, and time swung back with him for a moment, + and he was a boy once more.</p> + + <p>And, gazing up at them all, their steady shine and + many-coloured twinklings led him to wonder as to the how and the + why of them. From the stars to their Maker was but a natural + step, and so he came, simply and naturally, to thought of the + greatness of Him who swung these innumerable worlds in their + courses, and, from that, to His goodness and justice.</p> + + <p>Memories of his mother came surging back upon him, and of all + her goodness and all she had taught him. She had had a mighty, + simple trust in the goodness of God, and had passed it on to her + boy, though his rough contact with the world had overworn it all + to some extent.</p> + + <p>Still, it was all there, and now it all came back to him + through the hopeful twinkling eyes of those innumerable + stars.</p> + + <p>"Have courage and hope!" they sang; and though all his little + world, save those two or three who knew him best, was against + him, he stood there with his face turned up to the stars, and + believed in his heart that all would yet be well.</p> + + <p>And when at last he turned back to things of earth, he found + the stars still twinkling in the sea, as though they would not + let him go even though he gave up looking at them. They gleamed + and glanced in the smooth-rolling waves till the deep seemed sown + with phosphorescence, as on that night in Grand Grève; the + night Nance came upon him so suddenly in the dark and he went on + with her to get Grannie's medicine.</p> + + <p>Was it possible that that blessed night, that terrible night, + was barely forty-eight hours old? So much had happened since + then, such incredible things! It seemed weeks ago. It seemed like + a dream; horrid, fantastic, wonderfully sweet.</p> + + <p>Within that tiny span of hours he had come to the knowledge of + Nance's love for him. Oh those sweet, frank kisses! If he had + died last night; if the hot heads in their madness had killed him + to balance Tom Hamon's account—still he would have lived: + for Nance had kissed him.</p> + + <p>And within the half of that short span he had been judged a + murderer, had had to flee for his life, and would, without a + doubt, have lost it but for Nance.</p> + + <p>She had undertaken a mighty risk for him—for him! And + she had shown him that she loved him, for she had kissed him with + her heart in her lips.</p> + + <p>And, grateful as he was for all the rest, it was still the + recollection of those sweet kisses that he thought of most.</p> + + <p>So "Hope! Hope!" sang the stars, and his heart was high + because his conscience was clean and Nance had kissed him.</p> + + <p>When at last he crawled into his burrow, his fire was only + white ashes, and he would not trouble to relight it.</p> + + <p>He broke off a piece of bread, and ate it slowly, and thought + of Nance, and promised himself the larger breakfast. Then he + rolled himself in his cloak, and slept more soundly than an + alderman after a civic feast.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER + XXIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW NANCE SENT FOOD AND HOPE TO HIM</h3> + + <p>Next morning, when he crawled out of his burrow, Gard found + everything swathed in dense white mist. Upon which he promptly + lit his fire, and in due course enjoyed a more satisfying meal + than he had eaten since he landed on the rock.</p> + + <p>Then he decided to take advantage of the screening mist to + explore such parts of his prison-house as were not available to + him at other times. So he walked along the ridge, secure from + observation since he could not himself see down to the water from + it, though the rushings and roarings along the black ledges below + never ceased.</p> + + <p>Every nook and ledge of the out-cropping rock on the south + side of the ridge was occupied by lady gulls in all stages of + their maternal duties. From the surprise they expressed at his + intrusion, and the way they stuck to their nests, they were + evidently quite unused to man and his ways, and it was all he + could do to avoid stepping on them and their squawking families + as he picked his way along.</p> + + <p>He clambered down the eastern slope nearest Sark, and found + the ground there covered with a fairly deep soil, and green + growths that were strange to him. The soil was perforated with + holes which at first he ascribed to rabbits, but when he inserted + his hand into one he got such a nip from an unusually strong beak + that he changed his mind to puffins, and, standing quite still + for a time, he presently saw the members of the colony come + creeping out behind their great red bills and scurry off across + the water in search of breakfast.</p> + + <p>Then the great semi-detached pinnacle below attracted him, and + he scrambled down amid the complaints of a great colony of gulls + and cormorants but found the tide still too full for him to cross + the intervening chasm. Those wonderful great green waves out of a + smooth sea came roaring along the sides of the island and met + full tilt in the chasm below him, as they leaped exultant from + their conflict with the rocks. They hurled themselves against one + another in wildest fury, and the foam of their meeting boiled + white along the ledges, and dappled all the sea.</p> + + <p>As he crawled through the lank wet grass and soft spongy soil, + he found himself suddenly confronted with a great barrier of + fallen rocks; as though, at some period of its existence, the + north end of the island had tapered to a gigantic peak which, in + the fulness of its time, had come down with a crash, and now lay + like a titanic wall from summit to sea-board. Huge and + forbidding, of all shapes and sizes, the mighty fragments barred + his course like a menace, and he attacked them warily, drawing + himself with infinite caution from one to another; over this one, + under this, deftly between these two, lest an unwary weighting + should start them on the movement that might grind him to + powder.</p> + + <p>The fog increased their forbidding aspect tenfold. He could + not see a foot before him, and could only worm his way among + them, testing each before he trusted it, and finding at times + monsters become but mediocre when his hand was on them. More than + once he had to rest his hands on cautiously-tried ledges and + swing his legs forward and grope with his feet for foothold, and + whether the space below was trifling, or whether it ran to + incredible depth, he could not tell.</p> + + <p>It was a mighty relief to him to come out at last on the other + side of the wall, and to find himself on the great north slope + which faced Sark, and so was closed to him in clear weather.</p> + + <p>The long thin grass grew rankly here, and was beaded with + moisture, but he pushed along with an eerie feeling at the + wildness of it all.</p> + + <p>The mist clung close about him, but had suddenly become + luminous. He felt as though he were packed loosely all round with + cotton wool on which a strong light was shining. It gave him a + feeling of light-headedness. Everything was light about him, and + yet he could not see more than a couple of feet before his face. + The waves roared hoarsely below him, and once he had unknowingly + got so low down that a monstrous white arm, reaching suddenly up + out of the depths, seemed about to lay hold on him and drag him + back with it into the turmoil.</p> + + <p>He was panting and full of mist when at last he climbed the + second great rock barrier and rounded the corner towards the + south.</p> + + <p>And as he sat resting there, the whiff of a westerly breeze + tore a long lane in the white shroud, and for a moment he saw, as + through a telescope, the houses of Guernsey gleaming in bright + sunshine. Then it closed again, and presently began to drift past + him in strange whorls and spirals, like hurrying ghosts wrapped + hastily in filmy garments, which loosed at times and trailed + slowly over the rocks and caught and clung to their sharp + projections. Then the sun completed the rout, and the mist-ghosts + swept away towards France, harried by the west wind like a flock + of sheep before the shepherd's dog.</p> + + <p>In the afternoon the heat grew so intense that he was driven + to the wells in the valley of rocks for a bathe, for there was no + shelter available, and his bee-hive was like an oven.</p> + + <p>None of the pools was large enough for a swim, and it was more + than a man's life was worth to venture among the boiling surges + of the outer rocks. But he could at all events get under water, + if it was only to sit there and cool off.</p> + + <p>So he stripped, and was just about slipping into a deep still + bath, emerald green, with a fringe of amber weeds all round its + almost perpendicular sides, when, glancing down to make sure of + an ultimate footing, his eye lighted with a shock of surprise on + a pair of huge eyes looking straight up at him out of the water. + They were violet in colour, protuberant, and malevolent beyond + words.</p> + + <p>He sat down suddenly on the baking black rock, with a cold + shiver running down his back in spite of the scorch of the sun. + The utter cold malignity of those great violet eyes, and the + thought of what would have happened if he had stepped into that + pool, made him momentarily sick.</p> + + <p>He had seen small devil-fish in the pools in Sark, but never + one approaching this in size. He crept away at last, leaving it + in possession, and found a pool clear of boulders or caving + hollows, and sat in it with no great enjoyment, wondering if the + great unwholesome beast in the other would be likely to climb the + cliff and come upon him in the night. He thought it unlikely, but + still the idea clung to him and caused him no little discomfort. + He blocked his door that night with great green cushions, though + he felt doubtful if they would be effective against the wiles and + strength of a devil-fish, if half that he had heard of them was + true.</p> + + <p>In the middle of the night—for he went to bed early, + having nothing else to do, except to watch the stars—he + woke with a cold start, feeling certain that hideous creature had + crawled up the slope and was feeling all round his house for an + entrance.</p> + + <p>Certainly <i>something</i> was moving about outside, and feeling + over the stones in an uncertain, searching kind of a way. And + when you have been wakened up from a nightmare in which staring + devil-eyes played a prominent part, <i>something</i> may be anything, + and as like as not the owner of the eyes.</p> + + <p>But even devil-fishes in their most advanced stages have not + yet attained the power of human speech. If they speak to one + another what a horrible sound it must be!</p> + + <p>It was with a sigh of relief, and a sudden unstringing of the + bow, that he heard outside—</p> + + <p>"Mr. Gard!" and with a lusty kick, which expressed some of his + feeling, he sent his doorway flying and crawled out after it.</p> + + <p>The myriad winking stars lifted the roof of the world and the + darkness somewhat, sufficient at all events for him to make out + that it was not Nance.</p> + + <p>"You, Bernel?" he queried, as the only possible + alternative.</p> + + <p>"Yes, Mr. Gard. I've brought you some more things to eat."</p> + + <p>"Good lad! I'm a great trouble to you. Where is Nance? In the + boat?"</p> + + <p>"No, she couldn't come. That Julie's watching her like a cat. + It was she and Peter stirred up the men against you. All day + yesterday the whole Island was out looking for you, dead or + alive, and very much puzzled as to what had become of you. And + Julie's got a suspicion that we know. They searched the house for + you in spite of mother and Grannie, but they won't forget Grannie + in a hurry, and I don't think they'll come back," and he laughed + at the recollection of it.</p> + + <p>"What did Grannie do?"</p> + + <p>"She just looked at them from under that big black sun-bonnet, + and muttered things no one heard. But her eyes were like points + of burning sticks, and they all crept out one after another, + afraid of they didn't know what. But Julie's been on the watch + all day, and would hardly let us out of her sight. But she + couldn't watch us both when we were not together. So Nance got a + bundle of things ready for you, and then went out with another + bundle and Julie followed her, and I slipped off here."</p> + + <p>"Bernel, I don't know how to thank you all! What should I have + done without you?"</p> + + <p>"You'd have been dead, most likely. It's not that they cared + much for Tom, you know, but they don't like the idea of a Sark + man being killed by a foreigner and no one paying for it."</p> + + <p>"But I'm not a foreigner—"</p> + + <p>"Yes you are, to them. Of course you're not a Frenchman, but + all the same you're not a Sark man. Good thing for you you'd + lived with us and we'd got to know you and like you."</p> + + <p>"Yes, that was a good thing indeed. I'm only sorry to have + brought you trouble and to be such a trouble to you."</p> + + <p>"If we thought you'd done it of course we wouldn't trouble. + But we know you couldn't have."</p> + + <p>"Nothing fresh has turned up?"</p> + + <p>"Nothing yet. But Nance says it will, sure. Truth must out, + she says."</p> + + <p>"It's a weary while of coming out sometimes, Bernel. And I + can't spend the rest of my life here, you know."</p> + + <p>"She said you were to keep your heart up. You never know what + may happen."</p> + + <p>"Tell her I can stand it because of all her goodness to me. If + I hadn't her to think of I might go mad in time."</p> + + <p>"I've brought you a rabbit I snared. Nance cooked it."</p> + + <p>"That was good of her. Can you eat puffins' eggs?"</p> + + <p>"They want a bit of getting used to," laughed the boy. "But + they're better cooked than raw."</p> + + <p>"I can cook them. I found part of an old boat, and I've + plugged up all the holes in the shelter, and I only light a fire + at night. Could I fish here?"</p> + + <p>"Too big a sea close in. I've got some in the boat. I put out + a line as I came across. I'll leave you some."</p> + + <p>"And have you a bottle—or a bailing-tin? Anything I + could bring home some water from the pools in? I have to go over + there every time I need a drink, and in the dark it's not + possible."</p> + + <p>"You can have the bailer. It's a new one and sound."</p> + + <p>"Now tell me, Bernel, if they find out I'm here what will they + do?"</p> + + <p>"They might come across and try and take you, unless they cool + down; and that won't be so long as that Julie and Peter talk as + they do. She makes him do everything she tells him. He's a + sheep."</p> + + <p>"And if they come across, what do you and Nance expect me to + do?"</p> + + <p>"You've got my gun," said the boy simply.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I've got your gun. But do you expect me to kill some of + them?"</p> + + <p>"They'd kill you," said Bernel, conclusively. On second + thoughts, however, he added, "But you needn't kill them. Wing one + or two, and the rest will let you be. With a gun I could keep all + Sark from landing on L'Etat."</p> + + <p>"Suppose they come in the night? How many landing-places are + there?"</p> + + <p>"There's another at the end nighest Guernsey, but it's not + easy. And it's only low tide and half-ebb that lets you ashore + here at all."</p> + + <p>"How about your boat?"</p> + + <p>"She's riding to a line. Tide's running up that way, but I'd + better be off."</p> + + <p>They stumbled through the darkness and the sleeping gulls, + which woke in fright, and volubly accused one another of + nightmares and riotous behaviour—and Bernel hauled in his + boat, and handed Gard the tin dipper and three good-sized + bream.</p> + + <p>"If you can't eat them all at once, split them open and dry + them in the sun," he said. "They'll keep for a week that + way."</p> + + <p>"Tell Nance I think of her every hour of the day, and I pray + God the truth may come out soon."</p> + + <p>"I'll tell her. It'll come out. She says so," and he pulled + out into the darkness and was gone.</p> + + <p>And the Solitary went back to his shelter, secure in the + knowledge that the tide was on the rise, and half-ebb would not + be till well on into next day. And he thought of Nance, and of + Bernel, and of all the whole matter again; white thoughts and + black thoughts, but chiefly white because of Nance, and Nance was + a fact, while the black thoughts were shadows confusing as the + mist.</p> + + <p>He could only devoutly hope and pray that a clean wind might + come and put the shadows to flight and let the sun of truth shine + through.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER + XXIV</h2> + + <h3>HOW HE SAW STRANGE SIGHTS</h3> + + <p>Living thus face to face with Nature, and drawn through lack + of other occupation into unusually intimate association with her, + Gard found his lonely rock a centre of strange and novel + experience.</p> + + <p>Situated as he was, even small things forced themselves + largely upon his observation and wrought themselves into his + memory. He found it good to lose himself for a time in these + visible and tangible actualities, rather than in useless efforts + after an understanding of the mystery of which he was the victim + and centre.</p> + + <p>He had given over much time to pondering the subject of Tom + Hamon's death, but had come no nearer any reasonable solution of + it. That hideous doubt as to himself in the matter recurred at + times, but he always hastened to dissipate it by some other + interest more practical and palpable, lest it should bring him to + ultimate belief in its possibility, and so to madness.</p> + + <p>And so he spent hours watching that wonderful roaring cauldron + on the south stack where his water pools were. Other hours in + study of the social and domestic economies of gulls and + cormorants. He saw families of awkward little fawn-coloured + squawkers force their way out of their shells under his very + eves, while indignant mothers told him what they thought of him + from a safe distance.</p> + + <p>He bathed regularly in the heat of the day, but always after + careful inspection of his chosen pool, and one day fled in haste + up the black rocks at sight of the tip of a long, quivering, + flesh-coloured tentacle coming curling round a rock in the close + neighbourhood of the pool in which he was basking.</p> + + <p>That monster under the rock gave him many a bad dream. It + seemed to him the incarnation of evil, and those horrible, + bulging, merciless eyes stuck like burrs in his memory.</p> + + <p>One day, when he had been watching the cauldron, and filling + his tin dipper at the freshwater pools, as he came to descend the + black wall leading to the valley of rocks, he witnessed a little + tragedy.</p> + + <p>Down below, on the edge of the pool where the octopus dwelt, a + silly young cormorant was standing gazing into the water, so + fascinated with something it saw there that it forgot even to + jerk its head in search of understanding.</p> + + <p>Gard stood and watched. He saw a tiny pale worm-like thing + come creeping up the black rock on which the cormorant squatted. + The cormorant saw it too, and he was hungry, as all cormorants + always are, even after a full meal. So presently he made a jab at + it with his curved beak, and in a moment the pale worm had + twisted itself tightly round his silly neck, and dragged him + screaming and fluttering under the water.</p> + + <p>Another day, when he was coming down by the break in the + cliff, where some great winter wave had bitten out such a slice + that the top had come tumbling down, he saw the monster sunning + itself on the flat rock by the side of its pool, like a huge + nightmare spider.</p> + + <p>The moment he appeared its great eyes settled on his as though + it had been waiting only for him. And when he stopped, with a + feeling of shuddering discomfort at its hugeness—for its + body seemed considerably over a foot in width, while its arms + lounging over the rocks were each at least six feet long, and + looked horribly muscular—he could have sworn that one of + the great devil-eyes winked familiarly at him, as though the + beast would say, "Come on, come on! Nice day for a bathe! Just + waiting for you!"</p> + + <p>He could see the loathsome body move as it breathed, swinging + comfortably in the support of its arms.</p> + + <p>In a fury of repulsion he stooped to pick up a rock, but when + he hurled it the last tentacle was just sliding into the pool, + and it seemed to him that it waved an ironical farewell before it + disappeared.</p> + + <p>More than once fishing-boats hovered about his rock, but kept + a safe distance from the boiling underfalls, and he always lay in + hiding till they had gone.</p> + + <p>But he saw more gracious and beautiful things than these.</p> + + <p>As he lay one morning, looking over the ridge at the Sark + headlands shining in the sun—with a strong west wind + driving the waves so briskly that, Sark-like, they tossed their + white crests into the air in angry expostulation long before they + met the rocks, and went roaring up them in dazzling spouts of + foam—his eye lighted on a gleam of unusual colour on the + racing green plain. It came again and again, and presently, as + the merry dance waxed wilder still, every white-cap as it tossed + into the air became a tiny rainbow, and the whole green plain was + alive with magical flutterings, of colours so dazzling that it + seemed bestrewn with dancing diamonds. A sight so wonderful that + he found himself holding in his! breath lest a puff should drive + it all away.</p> + + <p>That same evening, too, was a glory of colour such as he had + never dreamed of. The setting sun was ruby; red, and the + cloud-bank into which he sank was all rimmed with red fire that + seemed to corruscate in its burning brilliancy.</p> + + <p>To Gard indeed, in the somewhat peculiar state of mind induced + by his sudden cutting-off from his kind and flinging back upon + himself, it seemed as though the blood-red sun had fallen into a + vast consuming fire behind that dark, fire-rimmed cloud, and that + that was the end of it, and it would never rise again.</p> + + <p>The sky, right away into the farthest east, was flaming red + with a hint of underlying smoke below the glow. The sea was a + weltering bath of blood, and the cliffs of Sark, save for the + gleam of white foam at their feet, shone as red as though they + had just been bodily dipped in it.</p> + + <p>His lonely rock, when he looked round at it in wonder, was all + unfamiliarly red. There was a red fantastic glow in the very air, + and he himself was as red as though he had in very fact killed + Tom Hamon, and drenched himself with his blood.</p> + + <p>So startling and unnatural was it all, that he found himself + wondering fearfully if these outside things were really all + blood-red, or whether something had gone wrong with his brain and + eyes, and only caused them to look so to him alone, or whether it + was indeed the end of all things shaping itself slowly under his + very eyes. And in that thought and fear he was not by any means + alone.</p> + + <p>But the wonderful red, which in its universality and intensity + had become overpowering and fearsome, faded at last, and he + hailed its going with a sigh of relief. His eyes and his brain + were all right, he had not killed Tom Hamon, and this was not the + earth's last sunset.</p> + + <p>And again that night, as he sat on the ridge on sentinel duty + till the rising tide should lock the doors of his castle, the sea + all round him shone with phosphorescence; every breaking wave + along the black plain was a lambent gleam of lightning, and where + they tore up the sides of his rock they were like flames out of a + fiery sea, so that he sat there looking down upon a weltering + band of nickering green and blue fires, which clung to the black + ledges and dripped slowly back into the seething gleam below.</p> + + <p>It was all very strange and very awesome, and he wondered what + it might portend in the way of further marvels.</p> + + <p>And he had not long to wait.</p> + + <p>Far away in the Atlantic a cyclone had been raging, and + carrying havoc in its skirts. Now it was whirling towards Europe, + and the puffins crept deep into their holes, and the gulls + circled with disconsolate cries, and the cormorants crouched + gloomily in lee of their snuggest ledges, and all nature seemed + waiting for the blow.</p> + + <p>Gard was awakened in the morning by the gale tearing at the + massive stones of his shelter as though it would carry them + bodily into the sea.</p> + + <p>And when he crawled out, flat like a worm, the wind caught him + even so, and he had to grimp to earth and anchor himself by + projecting pieces of rock.</p> + + <p>Such seas as these he had never imagined round Sark; + forgetting that behind Guernsey lay thousands of miles of waters + tortured past endurance and racing now to escape the fury of the + storm.</p> + + <p>A white lash of spray came over him as he lay, and soaked him + to the skin, and, turning his face to the storm, he saw through + the chinks of his eyes a great wavering white curtain between him + and the sky line. The south-west portion of his island, where his + freshwater pools were, and the valley of rocks, were all awash, + the mighty waves roaring clean over the south stack, and rushing + up into the black sky in rockets of flying spray. The tide had + still some time to run, and he feared what it might be like at + its fullest. It seemed to him by no means impossible that it + might sweep the whole rock bare.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + + <h3>HOW HE LIVED THROUGH THE GREAT STORM</h3> + + <p>It was a fortunate thing for Gard that the storm—the + great storm from which, for many a year afterwards, local events + in Sark dated—came when it did; two days after Bernel's + visit and the replenishment of his larder. For if he had been + caught bare he must have starved.</p> + + <p>Eight whole days it lasted, with only two slight abatements + which, while they raised his hopes only to dash them, still + served him mightily.</p> + + <p>During the first days he spent much of his time crouched in + the lee of his bee-hive, watching the terrific play of the waves + on his own rock and on the Sark headlands.</p> + + <p>He wondered if any other man had seen such a storm under such + conditions. For he was practically at sea on a rock; in the midst + of the turmoil, yet absolutely unaffected by it.</p> + + <p>On shipboard, thought of one's ship and possible consequences + had always interfered with fullest enjoyment of Nature's + paroxysms. It was impossible to detach one's thoughts completely + and view matters entirely from the outside. But here—he was + sure his rock had suffered many an equal torment—there was + nothing to come between him and the elemental frenzy. Nothing + but—as the days of it ran on—a growing solicitude as + to what he was going to live on if it continued much longer.</p> + + <p>Never was Sark rabbit so completely demolished as was that one + that Nance had cooked and sent him. Before he had done with it he + cracked the very bones he had thrown away, for the sake of what + was in them, and finally chewed the softer parts of the bones + themselves to cheat himself into the belief that he was + eating.</p> + + <p>That was after he had devoured every crumb of his bread, and + finished his three fishes to the extreme points of their + tails.</p> + + <p>He was, I said, in the very midst of the turmoil yet + unaffected by it. But that was not so in some respects.</p> + + <p>Bodily, as we have seen, the storm bore hardly upon him, since + rabbit-bones and fish-tails can hardly be looked upon as a + nutritious or inviting dietary.</p> + + <p>But mentally and spiritually the mighty elemental upheaval was + wholly crushing and uplifting.</p> + + <p>As he cowered, with humming head, under the fierce unremitting + rush of the gale, and felt the great stones of his shelter + tremble in it, and watched the huge green hills of water, with + their roaring white crests, go sweeping past to crash in thunder + on the cliffs of Sark, he felt smaller than he had ever felt + before—and that, as a rule, and if it come not of + self-abnegation through a man's own sin or folly, is entirely to + his good; possibly in the other case also.</p> + + <p>To feel infinitely small and helpless in the hands of an + Infinitely Great is a spiritual education to any man, and it was + so to this man.</p> + + <p>He felt himself, in that universal chaos, no more than a speck + of helpless dust amid the whirling wheels of Nature's + inexplicable machinery, and clung the tighter to the simple + fundamental facts of which his heart was sure—behind and + above all this was God, who held all these things in His hand. + And over there in Sark was Nance, the very thought of whom was + like a coal of fire in his heart, which all the gales that ever + blew, and all the soddened soaking of ceaseless rain from above + and ceaseless spray from below, could not even dim.</p> + + <p>For long-continued and relentless buffeting such as this tells + upon any man, no matter what his strength of mind or body to + begin with; and a perpetually soaked body is apt in time to + sodden the soul, unless it have something superhuman to cling to, + as this man had in his simple trust in God and the girl he + loved.</p> + + <p>In all those stressful days, so far as he could see, the + tides—which in those parts rise and fall some forty feet, + as you may see by the scoured bases of the towering + cliffs—seemed always at the full, the westerly gale driving + in the waters remorselessly and piling them up against the land + without cessation, and as though bent on its destruction.</p> + + <p>Great gouts of clotted foam flew over his head in clouds, and + plastered his rock with shivering sponges. The sheets of spray + from his south-west rocks lashed him incessantly. His shelter was + as wet inside as out, as he was himself.</p> + + <p>He felt empty and hungry at times, but never thirsty; his skin + absorbed moisture enough and to spare. But, chilled and clammed + and starving, on the fifth day when he had crawled into his wet + burrow for such small relief as it might offer from the ceaseless + flailing without, he broached his bottle of cognac and drank a + little, and found himself the better of it.</p> + + <p>On the evening of the third day his hopes had risen with a + slight slackening of the turmoil. He was not sure if the gale had + really abated, or if it was only that he was growing accustomed + to it. But under that belief, and the compulsion of a growling + stomach, he crawled precariously round to the eastern end of the + rock where the puffins had their holes, lying flat when the great + gusts snatched at him as though they were bent on hurling him + into the water, and gliding on again in the intervals. And there, + with a piece of his firewood he managed to extort half-a-dozen + eggs from fiercely expostulating parents. The end of his stick + was bitten to fragments, but he got his eggs, and was amazed at + the size of them compared with that of their producers.</p> + + <p>The sight of the great wall of tumbled rocks on his right, and + the sudden remembrance of his previous passage over it, set him + wondering if it might not be possible to find better shelter in + some of those fissures across which he had had to swing himself + by the hands on the previous occasion. For this was the leeward + side of the island, and the huge bulk of it rose like a + protecting shoulder between him and the gale, whereas his + bee-hive, on the exposed flank of the rock, got the full force of + it. So he scooped a hole in the friable black soil and deposited + his eggs in it and crawled along to the wall.</p> + + <p>The tumbled fragments looked much less fearsome than they had + done in the fog. He found no difficulty in clambering among them + now, when he could see clearly what he was about, and he wormed + his way in and out, and up and down, but could not light on any + of those tricky spaces which had seemed to him so dangerous + before.</p> + + <p>And then, as he crawled under one huge slab, a black void lay + before him, of no great width but evidently deep. It took many + minutes' peering into the depths to accustom his eyes to the + dimness.</p> + + <p>Then it seemed to him that the rough out jutting fragments + below would afford a holding, and he swung his feet cautiously + down and felt round for foothold.</p> + + <p>Carefully testing everything he touched, he let himself down, + inch by inch, assured that if he could go down he could certainly + get up again.</p> + + <p>At first the gale still whistled through the crevices among + the boulders, but presently he found himself in a silence that + was so mighty a change from the ceaseless roar to which he was + becoming accustomed, that he felt as though stricken with + deafness. Up above him the light filtered down, tempered by the + slab under which he had come, and enabled him still to find + precarious hand and foot hold.</p> + + <p>But presently his downward progress was barred by a rough + flooring of splintered fragments, and he stood panting and looked + about him.</p> + + <p>His well was about twenty feet deep, he reckoned, and there + were gaping slits here and there which might lead in towards the + rock or out towards the sea. He had turned and twisted so much in + his descent that it took him some time to decide in which + direction the sea might lie and in which the rock. And, having + settled that, he wriggled through a crevice and wormed slowly + on.</p> + + <p>He was almost in the dark now, and could only feel his way. + But he was used to groping in narrow places, and a spirit of + investigation urged him on.</p> + + <p>Half an hour's strenuous and cautious worming, and a thin + trickle of light glimmered ahead. He turned and worked his way + back at once.</p> + + <p>There was no slit opposite the one he had tried, but + presently, half-way up the well, he made out an opening like the + mouth of a small adit. His back had been to it as he came down, + and so he had missed it.</p> + + <p>He climbed up and in, and felt convinced in his own mind that + this was no simple work of nature. Nature had no doubt begun, but + man had certainly finished it. For the floor level was + comparatively free from harshness, and the outjutting projections + of the sides and roof had been tempered, and progress was not + difficult.</p> + + <p>It was very narrow, however, and very low, and quite dark. He + could only drag himself along on his stomach like a worm. But he + pushed on with all the ardour of a discoverer.</p> + + <p>Was it silver? Was it smugglers? Or what? Wholly accidental + formation he was sure it was not, though he thought it likely + that man's handiwork had only turned Nature's to account.</p> + + <p>The fissure had probably been there from the beginning of + time, or it might be the result of numberless years of the slow + wearing away of a softer vein of rock, but some man at some time + had lighted on it, and followed it up, and with much labour had + smoothed its natural asperities and used it for his own purposes. + And he was keen to learn what those purposes were.</p> + + <p>To any ordinary man, accustomed to the ordinary amplitudes of + life, and freedom to stretch his arms and legs and raise his head + and fill his lungs with fresh air, a passage such as this would + have been impossible. Here and there, indeed, the walls widened + somewhat through some fault in the rook, bur for the most part + his elbows grazed the sides each time he moved them.</p> + + <p>Even he, used as he was to such conditions, began at last to + feel them oppressive. The whole mighty bulk of L'Etat seemed + above and about him, malignantly intent on crushing him out of + existence.</p> + + <p>He knew that was only fancy. He had experienced it many times + before. But the nightmare feeling was there, and it needed all + his will at times to keep him from a panic attempt at retreat, + when the insensate rock-walls seemed absolutely settling down on + him, and breathing was none too easy.</p> + + <p>But going back meant literally going backwards, crawling out + toes foremost; for his elbows scraped the walls and his head the + roof, and turning was out of the question. The men who had made + and used that narrow way had undoubtedly gone with a purpose, and + not for pleasure. And he was bound to learn what that purpose + was.</p> + + <p>So he set his teeth, and wormed himself slowly along, with + pinched face and tight-shut mouth, and nostrils opened wide to + take in all the air they could and let out as little as possible. + And, even at that, he had to lie still at times, pressed flat + against the floor, to let some fresher air trickle in above + him.</p> + + <p>But at last he came to what he sought, though no whit of it + could he see when he got there. By the sudden cessation of the + pressure on his sides and head, he was aware of entrance into a + larger space, and, with forethought quickened by the exigences of + his passage, he lay for a moment to pant more freely and to + think.</p> + + <p>His body was in the passage. He knew where the passage led out + to. What lay ahead he could not tell.</p> + + <p>If it was a chamber, as he expected, there might quite + possibly be other passages leading out of it. And so it would be + well to make sure of recognizing this one again before he loosed + his hold on it. So he pulled off one boot, and feeling carefully + round the opening, placed it just inside as a landmark.</p> + + <p>Then he groped on along the right-hand wall to learn the size + of the chamber, and was immediately thankful that his own passage + was safely marked, for he came on another opening, and another, + and another, and labelled them carefully in his mind, "One, two, + three."</p> + + <p>It was truly eerie work, groping there in that dense darkness + and utter silence, and trying to the nerves even of one who had + never known himself guilty of such things. But, being there, he + was determined to learn all he could.</p> + + <p>He clung to his right-hand wall as to a life-rope. If he once + got mazed in a place like that he might never taste daylight and + upper air again.</p> + + <p>Of the size of the chamber he could so far form no opinion. He + would have given much for a light. His flint and steel were + indeed in his pocket, but he was sodden through and through, and + had no means whatever of catching a spark if he struck one.</p> + + <p>Then, as he groped cautiously along past the third opening, + his progress was stayed, and not by rock.</p> + + <p>He was on his knees, his hands feeling blindly, but with + infinite enquiry, along the rough rock wall, when he stumbled + suddenly over something that lay along the ground. Dropping his + hands to save himself from falling, they lighted on that which + lay below, and he started back with an exclamation and a shudder. + For what he had felt was like the hair and face of a man.</p> + + <p>He crouched back against the wall, his heart thumping like a + ship's pump, and the blood belling in his ears, and sat so for + very many minutes; sat on, until, in that silent blackness, he + could hear the dull, far-away thud of the waves on the outer + walls of the island.</p> + + <p>Then, by degrees, he pulled himself together. If it was indeed + a man, he was undoubtedly dead, and therefore harmless; and + having learned this much he would know more.</p> + + <p>So presently he groped forward, felt again the round head and + soft hair, and below it and beyond it a heap of what felt like + small oblong packages done up in wrappings of cloth and tied + round with cord.</p> + + <p>He picked one up and handled it inquisitively, with a shrewd + idea of what might be, or might have been, inside. The cord was + very loose, as though the contents had shrunk since it was tied. + As he fumbled with it in the dark, it came open and left him no + possible room for doubt as to what those contents were. He + sneezed till the top of his head seemed like to lift, and the + tears ran down his cheeks in an unceasing stream. What had once + been tobacco had powdered into snuff, and his rough handling of + the package had scattered it broadcast.</p> + + <p>He turned at last, and lay with his head in his arms against + the wall until the air should have time to clear, and meanwhile + the sneezing had quickened his wits.</p> + + <p>Here was possible tinder, and by means of those dried-up + wrappings he might procure a light. If it lasted but five minutes + it might enable him to solve the problem on which he had + stumbled.</p> + + <p>He groped again for the opened package, and found it on the + dead man's face. The wrapper was of tarred cloth, almost perished + with age, dry and friable. Shaking out the rest of the snuff at + arm's length, he picked the stuff to pieces and shredded it into + tinder. Then he felt about for half-a-dozen more packages, + carefully slipped their cords and emptied out their contents, and + getting out his flint and steel, flaked sparks into the tinder + till it caught and flared, and the interior of the cavern leaped + at him out of its darkness.</p> + + <p>He rolled up one of the empty wrappers like a torch, and lit + it, and looked about him.</p> + + <p>His first hasty glance fell on the dead man, and he got + another shock from the fact that his feet were lashed together + with stout rope, and probably his hands also, for they were + behind his back, and he lay face upward. His coat and + short-clothes and buckled shoes spoke of long by-gone days, and + the skin of his face was brown and shrivelled, so that the bones + beneath showed grim and gaunt.</p> + + <p>Beyond him was a great heap of the same small packages of + tobacco, and alongside them a pile of small kegs. Gard lit + another of his torches, and stepped gingerly over to them. He + sounded one or two, but found them empty. Time had shrunk their + stout timbers and tapped their contents.</p> + + <p>Then he held up his flickering light and looked quickly round + this prison-house which had turned into a tomb, and shivered, as + a dim idea of what it all meant came over him.</p> + + <p>It was a large, low, natural rock chamber, and all round the + walls were black slits which might mean it passages leading on + into the bowels of the island. To investigate them all would mean + the work of many days.</p> + + <p>The dead man, the perished packages, the empty + kegs—there was nothing else, except his own boot lying in + the mouth of the largest of the black slits, as though anxious on + its own account to be gone.</p> + + <p>The still air was already becoming heavy with the pungent + smoke of his torches. He stepped cautiously across to the body + again, and picked a couple of buttons from the coat. They came + off in his hand, and when he touched the buckles on the shoes + they did the same. Then he turned and made for his waiting shoe + just as his last torch went out.</p> + + <p>The smell of the fresh salt air, when he wriggled out into the + well, was almost as good as a feast to him. He climbed hastily to + the surface, and, as he crept out from under the topmost slab, + took careful note of its position, and then scored with a piece + of rock each stone which led up to it. For, if ever he should + need an inner sanctuary, here was one to his hand, and evidently + quite unknown to the present generation of Sark men.</p> + + <p>He recovered his eggs, and crept round the shoulder of the + rock. The gale pounced on him like a tiger on its half-escaped + prey. It beat him flat, worried him, did its best to tear him off + and fling him into the sea. But—Heavens!—how sweet it + was after the musty quiet of the death-chamber below!</p> + + <p>Inch by inch, he worked his way back in the teeth of it, and + crawled spent into his bee-hive. Then, ravenous with his + exertions, he broke one of his eggs into his tin dipper, and + forthwith emptied it outside, and the gale swept away the awful + smell of it.</p> + + <p>The next was as bad, and his hopes sank to nothing.</p> + + <p>The third, however, was all right. He mixed it with some + cognac and whipped it up with a stick, and the growlers inside + fought over it contentedly.</p> + + <p>He was almost afraid to try another. However, he could get + more to-morrow. So he broke the fourth, and found it also good, + so whipped it up with more cognac, and felt happier than he had + done since he nibbled his rabbit-bones.</p> + + <p>As he lay that night, and the gale howled about him more + furiously than ever, his thoughts ran constantly on the dead man + lying in the silent darkness down below.</p> + + <p>It was very quiet down there, and dry; but this roaring + turmoil, with its thunderous crashings and hurtling spray, was + infinitely more to his taste, wet though he was to the bone, and + almost deafened with the ceaseless uproar. For this, terrible + though it was in its majestic fury, was life, and that black + stillness below was death.</p> + + <p>To the tune of the tumult without, he worked out the dead + man's story in his mind.</p> + + <p>It was long ago in the old smuggling days. Some bold + free-trader of Sark or Guernsey had lighted on that cave and used + it as a storehouse. Some too energetic revenue officer had + disappeared one day and never been heard of again. He had been + surprised—by the free-traders—perhaps in the very act + of surprising them—brought over to L'Etat in a boat, been + dragged through the tunnel, or made to crawl through, perhaps, + with vicious knife-digs in the rear, and had been left bound in + the darkness till he should be otherwise disposed of. His captors + had been captured in turn, or maybe killed, and he had lain there + alone and in the dark, waiting, waiting for them to return, + shouting now and again into the muffling darkness, struggling + with his bonds, growing weaker and weaker, faint with hunger, mad + with thirst, until at last he died.</p> + + <p>It was horrible to think of, and desperate as his own state + was, he thanked God heartily that he was not as that other.</p> + + <p>Morning brought no slackening of the gale. It seemed to him, + if anything, to be waxing still more furious.</p> + + <p>He had only two eggs left, and they might both be bad ones, + but he would not have ventured round the headland that day for + all the eggs in existence.</p> + + <p>He broke one presently, in answer to a clamour inside him that + would brook no denial, and found it good, and lived on it that + day, and mused between times on the strange fact that a man could + feel so mightily grateful for the difference between a bad egg + and a good one.</p> + + <p>His sixth egg turned out a good one also, and the next day + there came another hopeful lull, which permitted him to harry the + puffins once more, and gave him a dozen chances against + contingencies.</p> + + <p>On the eighth day the storm blew itself out, and he looked + hopefully across at the lonely and weather-beaten cliffs of Sark + for the relief which he was certain they had been aching to send + him.</p> + + <p>The waves, however, still ran high, and, though he did not + know it till later, there was not a boat left afloat round the + whole Island. The forethoughtful and weather-wise had run them + round to the Creux and carried them through the tunnel into the + roadway behind. All the rest had been smashed and sunk and + swallowed by the storm.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER + XXVI</h2> + + <h3>HOW HE HELD THE ROCK</h3> + + <p>The sun blazed hot next day, and he spread himself out in it + to warm, and all his soaked things in it to dry, and blessed it + for its wholesome vigour.</p> + + <p>Nance or Bernel would be sure to come as soon as the tide + served at night, and he would net be sorry for a change of diet; + meanwhile, he could get along all right with the unwilling + assistance of the puffins.</p> + + <p>The birds had all crept out of their hiding-places, and were + wheeling and diving and making up for lost time and busily + discussing late events at the tops of their voices whenever their + bills were not otherwise occupied. Where they had all hidden + themselves during the storm, he could not imagine, but there + seemed to be as many of them as ever, and they were all quite + happy and quarrelsome, except the cormorants, who were so + ravenous that they could not spare a moment from their diving and + gobbling, even to quarrel with their neighbours.</p> + + <p>He levied on the puffins again, and, after a meal, prowled + curiously about his rock to see what damage the storm had done, + but to his surprise found almost none.</p> + + <p>It seemed incredible that all should be the same after the + deadly onslaught of the gale. But it was only in the valley of + rocks that he found any consequences.</p> + + <p>There the huge boulders had been hurled about like marbles: + some had been tossed overboard, and some, in their fantastic + up-piling, spoke eloquently of all they had suffered.</p> + + <p>But one grim—though to him wholly gracious—deed + the storm had wrought there. For, out of the pool where the + devil-fish dwelt, its monstrous limbs streamed up and lay over + the sloping rocks, and he dared not venture near. But, in the + afternoon when he came again to look at it, and found it still in + the same attitude, something about it struck him as odd and + unusual.</p> + + <p>The great tentacles had never moved, so far as he could see, + and there was surely something wrong with a devil-fish that did + not move.</p> + + <p>He hurled a stone, picked out of the landslip at the corner, + and hit a tentacle full and fair with a dull thud like leather. + But the beast never moved.</p> + + <p>He was suspicious of the wily one, however. The devil, he + knew, was sometimes busiest when he made least show of business. + And it was not till next morning, when he found the monster still + as before, that he ventured down to the pool and looked into it, + and saw what had happened.</p> + + <p>The waves had hurled a huge boulder into it—and there + you may see it to this day—and it had fallen on the + devil-fish and ground him flat, and purged the rock of a + horror.</p> + + <p>Gard examined the hideous tentacles with the curiosity of + intensest repulsion; yet could not but stand amazed at the + wonderful delicacy and finish displayed in the tiny powerful + suckers with which each limb was furnished on the under side, and + the flexible muscularity of the monstrous limbs themselves, thick + as his biceps where they came out of the pool, and tapering to a + worm-like point, capable, it seemed to him, of picking up a + pin.</p> + + <p>He was mightily glad the beast was dead, however. It had been + a blot on Nature's handiwork, and the very thought of it a + horror.</p> + + <p>The strenuous interlude of the storm, which, to the lonely one + exposed to its fullest fury, had seemed interminable—every + shivering day the length of many, and the black howling nights + longer still—had had the effect of relaxing somewhat his + own oversight over himself and his precautions against being + seen.</p> + + <p>L'Etat in a furious sou'-wester is a sight worth seeing. + Possibly some telescope had been brought to bear on the + foam-swept rock when he, secure in the general bouleversement and + cramped with hunger, had turned the forbidden corner with no + thought in his mind but eggs.</p> + + <p>Possibly again, it was sheer carelessness on his part, born + once more of the security of the storm and the recent + non-necessity for concealment.</p> + + <p>However it came about, what happened was that, as he stood in + the valley of rocks examining his dead monster, he became + suddenly aware that a fishing-boat had crept round the open end + of the valley, and that it seemed to him much closer in than he + had ever seen one before.</p> + + <p>He dropped prone among the boulders at once, but whether he + had been seen he could not tell—could only vituperate his + own carelessness, and hope that nothing worse might come of + it.</p> + + <p>He lay there a very long time, and when at last he ventured to + crawl to the rocks at the seaward opening, the boat was away on + the usual fishing-grounds busy with its own concerns, and he + persuaded himself that its somewhat unusual course had been + accidental. The incident, however, braced him to his former + caution, and he went no more abroad without first carefully + inspecting the surrounding waters from the ridge.</p> + + <p>They would be certain to come that night, he felt sure, either + Nance or Bernel, perhaps both. Yes, he thought most likely they + would both come. They would, without doubt, be wondering how he + had fared during the storm, and would be making provision for + him.</p> + + <p>Perhaps Nance was cooking for him at that very moment, and + thinking of him as he was of her.</p> + + <p>In the certain expectation of their coming, he decided he + would not go to sleep at all that night, but would crawl down to + the landing-place to welcome them.</p> + + <p>He wondered if that mad woman Julie had given up watching + them, and, if not, if they would be able to circumvent her again. + In any case, he hoped that if only one of them came it might be + Nance. He fairly ached for the sight and sound of her—and + the feel of her little hand, and a warm frank kiss from the lips + that knew no guile.</p> + + <p>The sufferings of the storm became as nothing to him in this + large hope and expectation of her coming.</p> + + <p>The intervening hours dragged slowly. It would be half-ebb + soon after dark, he thought; and he crept up to the ridge and + gazed anxiously over at the Race between him and Brenière, + to see if it showed any unusual symptoms after the storm.</p> + + <p>It ran furiously enough, but, he said to himself, it would + slacken on the ebb, and they were so familiar with it that it + would take more than that to stop them coming.</p> + + <p>Before dark the great seas were rolling past, a little quicker + than usual, he thought, but in long, smooth undulations, which + slipped, unbroken and soundless, even along the black ledges of + his rock. And when the stars came out—brighter than ever + with the burnishing of the gale—the long black backs of the + waves, and the darker hollows between, were sown so thick with + trailing gleams that he could not be certain whether it was only + star-shine or phosphorescence.</p> + + <p>It was all very peaceful and beautiful, however, and very + welcome to eyes that had not looked upon sun, moon, or star for + eight whole nights and days, and whose ears had grown hardened to + the ceaseless clamour of the gale. Nature, indeed, seemed + preternaturally quiet, as though exhausted with her previous + violence or desirous of wiping out the remembrance of it; just as + small humanity after an outbreak endeavours at times to purge the + memory of its offence by display of unusual amiability and + sweetness.</p> + + <p>Eager to welcome his confidently expected visitors, Gard crept + along the ridge as soon as it was dark, and posted himself on the + point which, in the daylight, commanded the passage from + Brenière.</p> + + <p>And he sat there so long—so long after his hopes and + wishes had flown over to Sark and hurried Bernel and Nance into a + boat and landed them on L'Etat—that the night seemed + running out, and he began to fear they were not coming, after + all.</p> + + <p>In the troubled darkness of the Race, he caught gleams at + times which might be oar-blades or might be only the upfling from + the perils below. The tide was ebbing, and soon the black fangs + with which it was strewn would be showing.</p> + + <p>At times he convinced himself that the brief gleams moved; but + when, to ease his eyes of the intolerable strain, he looked up at + the stars, it seemed to him that they moved also, and so he could + not be sure.</p> + + <p>But surely there was a gleam that seemed to move and come + fitfully towards him—or was it only star-shine dancing on + the waves of the Race which always ran against the tide?</p> + + <p>He stood to watch, then lost the gleam, and crouched again + disappointed.</p> + + <p>The boat must come round Quette d'Amont, the great pile of + rock that lay off the eastern corner, and the first glimpse he + could hope to get of it in the darkness would be there.</p> + + <p>Then, suddenly, in that curious way in which one sometimes + sees more out of the tail of one's eye than out of the front of + it, he got an impression—and with it a start—of + something moving noiselessly among the tumbled rocks below on his + left.</p> + + <p>It was a dark night, but the glory of the stars lifted it out + of the ebony-ruler category. It was a wide, thin, lofty darkness, + but still black enough along the sides of his rock, and down + there it seemed to him that something moved, something dim and + shadowy and silent.</p> + + <p>He thought of the dead man in his chamber down below. Could he + be in the habit of walking of a night? He thought of ghosts, of + which, if popular belief was anything to go by, Sark was full; + and there was nothing to hinder them coming across to L'Etat for + their Sabbat. And he thought of monster devil-fish climbing, + loathsome and soundless, about the dark rocks.</p> + + <p>He longed for a pair of Sark eyes, and shrank down into a + hollow under the ridge to watch this thing, with something of a + creepy chill between his shoulder-blades.</p> + + <p>There was certainly something lighter than the surrounding + darkness down below, and it moved. It turned the corner and + flitted along the slope, slowly but surely, in the direction of + his shelter. Its mode of progression, from the little he could + make out in the darkness, was just such as he would have looked + for in a huge octopus hauling itself along by its tentacles over + the out-cropping rock-bones.</p> + + <p>He could not rest there. He must see. He crawled along the + ridge as quietly as he could manage it, and would have felt + happier, whatever it was, spirit or monster, if he had had his + gun. Now and again it stopped, and when it stopped he lay flat to + the ground and held his breath, lest it should discover him. When + it went on, he went on.</p> + + <p>When he came to the end of the ridge he saw that the nebulous + something had apparently stopped just where his house must + be.</p> + + <p>And then, every sense on the strain, he heard his own name + called softly, and he laughed to himself for very joy of it, and + lay still to hear it again, and laughed once more to think that + in her simplicity she still thought of him as "Mr. Gard." He + would teach her to call him "Steen," as his mother used to + do.</p> + + <p>Then he got up quickly and cried, as softly as herself, but + with joy and laughter in his voice—</p> + + <p>"Why, Nance! My dear, I was not sure whether you were a ghost + or a devil-fish;" and he sprang down towards her.</p> + + <p>And then, to his amazement, he saw that she was clad only in + the clinging white garment in which he had seen her swim.</p> + + <p>Her next words confounded him.</p> + + <p>"Is Bernel here?"</p> + + <p>"Bernel, Nance? No, dear, he is not here. Why—"</p> + + <p>"Did he not get here last night?" she jerked sharply.</p> + + <p>"No. No one. I was hoping—"</p> + + <p>But she had sunk down against the great stones of the shelter, + with her hands before her face.</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu, mon Gyu! Then he is dead! Oh, my poor one! My dear + one!"</p> + + <p>"Nance! Nance! What is it all, dearest? Did Bernel try to come + across last night—"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes! He would come. He said you must be starving. We + were all anxious about you—"</p> + + <p>"And he tried to swim across?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes! And he is drowned! Oh, my poor, poor boy!"</p> + + <p>She was shaking with the sudden chill of dreadful loss. He + stooped, and felt inside the shelter with a long arm for the old + woollen cloak and wrapped her carefully in it. He raked out the + blanket and made her sit with it tucked about her feet. And she + was passive in his hands, with thought as yet for nothing but her + loss.</p> + + <p>She was shaken with broken sobs, and in the face of grief such + as this he could find no words. What could he say? All the words + in the world could not bring back the dead.</p> + + <p>And it was through him this great sorrow had come upon her. He + seemed fated to bring misfortune on their house.</p> + + <p>He wondered if she would hate him for it, though she must know + he had had no more to do with the matter than with Tom's + death.</p> + + <p>He put a protecting arm round the old cloak, tentatively, and + in some fear lest she might resent it, but knew no other way to + convey to her what was in his heart.</p> + + <p>But she did not resent it, and nothing was further from her + mind than imputing any share in this loss to him.</p> + + <p>Some women's hearts are so wonderfully constituted that the + greater the demands upon them the more they are prepared to give. + At times they give and give beyond the bounds of reason, and yet + amazingly retain their faith and hope in the recipients of their + gifts.</p> + + <p>But that has nothing to do with our story. Except + this—that these various demands on Nance's fortitude, + incurred by her love for Stephen Gard, far from weakening her + love only made it the stronger. As that love came more and more + between her and her old surroundings, and exacted from her + sacrifice after sacrifice, the more she clung to it, and looked + to it, and let the past go. The partial ostracism brought upon + her by Gard's outspoken declaration of their mutual + feeling—even this final offering of her dearly-loved + brother—these only bound her heart to him the tighter.</p> + + <p>"Nance dear!" he said at last, when she had got control of + herself again. "Is it not possible to hope? He was so good a + swimmer. Maybe he found the Race too strong and was carried away + by it. He may have been picked up, and will come back as soon as + he is able."</p> + + <p>"No," she said, with gloomy decision. "He is dead. I feared + for him, for I had been to look at the Race just before sundown, + and it looked terribly strong. But he would go—"</p> + + <p>"Why didn't he get a boat?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, mon Gyu!" and she started up wildly. "I was forgetting. I + was thinking only of myself and Bernel. There isn't a boat left + alive outside the Creux, and he couldn't get one there without + them knowing. But"—in quick excitement now, to make up for + lost time—"they have seen you here, and they may come + to-night—Achochre that I am! They may be here! Come + quickly! Your gun!" and she was all on the quiver to be gone.</p> + + <p>Gard stooped and pulled out the gun from its hiding-place + inside the shelter.</p> + + <p>"Is it loaded?" she asked sharply.</p> + + <p>"Yes. I cleaned it to-day."</p> + + <p>"Take your charges with you, and do you hasten back to the + place we landed the first night. You know?"</p> + + <p>"I know. And you?"</p> + + <p>"I will go to the other landing-place. But they are not likely + to come there."</p> + + <p>"And if they do?"</p> + + <p>"I will manage them," and she slipped into the darkness with + the big cloak about her.</p> + + <p>Gard crept along the slope, and found a roost above the + landing-place.</p> + + <p>His brain was in a whirl. Bernel had tried to cross to him and + was drowned. Nance had swum across. Brave girl! Wonderful girl! + For him!—and for news of Bernel. It was terrible to think + of Bernel, dead on his account—terrible! It would not be + surprising if Nance hated him. Yet, what had he done?—what + could he do? He had done nothing. He could do nothing; and his + teeth ground savagely at the craziness of these wild Sark men who + had brought it all about, and at his own utter impotence.</p> + + <p>But Nance did not hate him. And she had swum that dreadful + Race to warn him. Brave girl! Wonderful girl!</p> + + <p>And then—surely the grinding of an oar, as it wrought + upon the gunwale against an ill-fitted thole-pin—out there + by the Quette d'Amont!</p> + + <p>His eyes and ears strained into the darkness till they felt + like cracking.</p> + + <p>And the muffled growl of voices!</p> + + <p>His heart thumped so, they might have heard it.</p> + + <p>He must wait till he was sure they meant to come in. But they + must not come too close.</p> + + <p>It was an ill landing in the dark, and there were various + opinions on it. But there was no doubt as to their intentions. + They were coming in.</p> + + <p>"Sheer off there!" cried Gard.</p> + + <p>Dead silence below. They had come in some doubt, but their + doubts were solved now, and there was no longer need for curbed + tongues, though, indeed, his hollow voice made some of them + wonder if it was not a spirit that spoke to them.</p> + + <p>"It's him!" "The man himself!" "We have him!" "In now and get + him!"—was the burden of their growls, as they hung on their + oars.</p> + + <p>"See here, men!" said Gard, invisible even to Sark eyes, + against the solid darkness of the slope. "There has been trouble + and loss enough over this matter already, and none of it my + making. Do you hear? I say again—none of it my making. If + you attempt to come ashore there will be more trouble, and this + time it will be of my making. Keep back!"—as an impulsive + one gave a tug at his oar. "If you force me to fire, your blood + be on your own heads. I give you fair warning."</p> + + <p>Growls from the boat carried up to him an impression of mixed + doubt and discomfort—ultimate disbelief in his possession + of arms, an energetic oath or two, and another creak of the + oar.</p> + + <p>"Very well! Here's to show you I am armed." The report of his + gun made Nance jump, at the other side of the island, and set all + the birds on L'Etat—except the puffins, deep in their + holes—circling and screaming.</p> + + <p>The small shot tore up the water within a couple of yards of + the boat, which backed off hastily—much to his + satisfaction, for he had feared they might rush him before he had + time to reload.</p> + + <p>He had dropped flat after firing and recharged his gun as he + lay. He was sure they must have come armed, and feared a volley + as soon as his own discharge indicated his whereabouts.</p> + + <p>As a matter of fact, they had come divided as to the truth of + the report that there was a man on L'Etat—even then as to + him being the man they sought. In any case, they had expected to + take him unawares, and never dreamt of his being armed and on the + watch for them.</p> + + <p>Thanks to Nance, he had turned the tables on them. It was they + who were taken unawares.</p> + + <p>But if he spoke again, he said to himself, they would be ready + for him, and their answers would probably take the rude form of + bullets. So he lay still and waited.</p> + + <p>There was a growling disputation in the boat. Then one + spoke—</p> + + <p>"See then, you, Gard! We will haff you yet, now we know where + you are. If it takes effery man and effery boat in Sark, we will + haff you, now we know where you are. You do not kill a Sark man + like that and go free. Noh—pardie!"</p> + + <p>"I have killed no man—" A gun rang out in the boat, and + the shot spatted on the rocks not a yard from him.</p> + + <p>Coming in, they knew, meant certain death for one among them, + and, keen as they were to lay hands on him, no man had any wish + to be that one.</p> + + <p>The oars creaked away into the darkness, and he climbed to the + ridge to make sure they made no attempt on the other side.</p> + + <p>But discretion had prevailed. One man could not hold L'Etat + from invasion at half-a-dozen points at once. They could bide + their time, and take him by force of numbers.</p> + + <p>He heard them go creaking off towards the Creux, and turned + and went back along the ridge to find Nance.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER + XXVII</h2> + + <h3>HOW ONE CAME TO HIM LIKE AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN</h3> + + <p>Nance was standing by the shelter, and even in the darkness he + could tell that she was shaking, in spite of her previous + vigorous incitement to defence.</p> + + <p>"You—you didn't kill any of them?" she asked + anxiously.</p> + + <p>"No, dear. I warned them off and fired into the water to show + them I was armed."</p> + + <p>"I was afraid. But, there were two shots."</p> + + <p>"One of them fired back the next time I spoke, but I was + expecting it."</p> + + <p>"They are wicked, wicked men, and cruel."</p> + + <p>"They are mistaken, that's all. But it comes to much the same + thing, and I don't see," he said despondently, "how we are ever + to prove it to them."</p> + + <p>"They will come again."</p> + + <p>"Yes, they are to come back with every man and every boat in + the Island. I shall have my hands full. Are there more than these + two places where they can land?"</p> + + <p>"Not good places, and these only when the sea is right. But + angry men—and ready to shoot you—oh, it is + wicked—"</p> + + <p>"We must hope the sea will keep them off, and that something + may turn up to throw some light on the other matter," he said, + trying to comfort her, though, in truth, the outlook was not + hopeful, and he feared himself that his time might be short.</p> + + <p>"I will stop here and help you," she said, with sudden + vehemence. "They shall not have you. They shall not! They are + wicked, crazy men," and the little cloaked figure shook again + with the spirit that was in it.</p> + + <p>"Dear!" he said, putting his arm round her, and drawing her + close. "You must not stop. They must not know you have been here. + I do not know what the end will be. We are in God's hands, and we + have done no wrong. But if ... if the worst comes, you will + remember all your life, dear, that to one man you were as an + angel from heaven. Nance! Nance! Oh, my dear, how can I tell you + all you are to me!"—and as he pressed her to him, the bare + white arms stole out of the cloak and clasped him tightly round + the neck.</p> + + <p>"But how are you going to get back, little one? You cannot + possibly swim that Race again?" he asked presently, holding her + still in his arms and looking down at her anxiously.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I can swim," she said valiantly. "I knew it would be + worse than usual, and I brought these"—and she slipped from + his arms and groped on the ground, and presently held up what + felt to him in the darkness like a pair of inflated bladders with + a broad band between them. "And here is a little bread and meat, + all I could carry tied on to my head. We feared you would be + starving."</p> + + <p>"You should not have burdened yourself, dear. It might have + drowned you. And I have eggs—puffins'—"</p> + + <p>"Ach!"</p> + + <p>"They are better than nothing, and I beat them up with cognac. + But are you safe in the Race, Nance dear, even with those + things?"</p> + + <p>"You cannot sink. If Bernel had only taken them! But he + laughed at them, and now—"</p> + + <p>He kissed her sobs away, but was full of anxiety at thought of + her in the rushing darkness of the Race.</p> + + <p>"I will go with you," he said eagerly, "and you will lend me + your bladders to get back with."</p> + + <p>"You would never get back to L'Etat in the dark"—and he + knew that that was true. "We of Sark can see, but you + others—"</p> + + <p>"I shall be in misery till I know you are all right," he said + anxiously.</p> + + <p>"I will run home. My things are in the gorse above + Brenière. And I will get a lantern and come down by + Brenière and wave it to you."</p> + + <p>"Will you do that? It will be like a signal from heaven," he + said eagerly, "a signal from heaven waved by an angel from + heaven."</p> + + <p>"And to-morrow I will go to the Vicar, and the + Sénéchal, and the Seigneur, if he has come home, + and I will make them stop these wicked men from coming here + again."</p> + + <p>"Can they?"</p> + + <p>"They shall. They must. They are the law and it is not + right."</p> + + <p>"It is worth trying, at any rate," he said cheerfully, as they + reached the eastern corner and struck down across his + puffin-warren to the point immediately opposite Brenière. + But he had not much hope that the Vicar and the + Sénéchal and the Seigneur all combined would avail + him, for the men of Sark are a law unto themselves.</p> + + <p>"But I've found another hiding-place, Nance, where they could + never find me."</p> + + <p>"Here?—on L'Etat?"</p> + + <p>"Yes—inside. I'll show you some time, perhaps, + if—"</p> + + <p>"Is this where you came ashore?" he asked, as she came to a + stand on a rough black shelf up which the waves hissed white and + venomous.</p> + + <p>"We—we always landed here when we swam across," she + said, with a little break in her voice, as it came home to her + again that Bernel would swim the Race no more.</p> + + <p>"Nance dear, don't give up hope. He may come back yet."</p> + + <p>"I have only you left, and they want to kill you," she said + sadly.</p> + + <p>"I wish I could come with you," as the dark waters swirled + below them. "It feels terrible to let you go into that all + alone."</p> + + <p>"It is nothing. The tide is dead slack, and I have + these"—swinging the bladders in her hand—"if I get + tired. Oh, if Bern had only taken them—"</p> + + <p>"I will kneel on the ridge and pray for your safety till I see + your light. Dear, God keep you, and bless you for all your + goodness and courage!"</p> + + <p>He strained her to him again, as if he could not let her go to + that colder embrace that awaited her below.</p> + + <p>"I could kiss the very rocks you have stood on," he said + passionately.</p> + + <p>She kissed him back and dropped the cloak, waited a second + till a wave had swirled by, then launched into the slack of it, + and was gone.</p> + + <p>He stood long, peering and listening into the darkness, but + heard only the welter of the water under the black ledges below, + and its scornful hiss as it seethed through the fringing + sea-weeds.</p> + + <p>Then at last he turned and climbed, slowly and heavily, up to + the ridge; for now he felt the strain of these last full hours, + coming on top of the longer strain of the storm; and this, and + the lack of proper feeding, made him feel weak and empty and + weary. He knelt down there in the darkness, with his face towards + the Race where Nance was battling with the hungry black waters, + and he prayed for her safety as he had never prayed for anything + in his life before.</p> + + <p>"<i>God keep her! God keep her! God keep her—and bring her + safe to land! O God, keep her, keep her, keep her, and bring her + safe to land!</i>"</p> + + <p>It was a monotonous little prayer, but all his heart was in + it, and that is all that makes a prayer avail. And when at last, + from sheer weariness, he sank down on to his heels in science, + gazing earnestly out into the blackness of the night, his heart + prayed on though his lips no longer moved.</p> + + <p>Could anything have happened to her? Could the black waters + have swallowed her?</p> + + <p>Anything might have happened to her. The waters might have + swallowed her, as they had Bernel.</p> + + <p>The thoughts would surge up behind his prayer, but he prayed + them down—again and again—and clung to his prayer and + his hope.</p> + + <p>It seemed hours since they parted, since his last glimpse of + her as the black waters swallowed the slim white figure, and + seemed to laugh scornfully at its smallness and weakness.</p> + + <p>"<i>Oh, Nance! Nance! God keep you! God keep you! God keep you! + Dear one, God keep you! God keep you! God keep you, and bring you + safe to land</i>!"</p> + + <p>He was numb with kneeling. If one had come behind him and cut + off his feet above the ankles, he would have felt no pain. He + felt no bodily sensation whatever. His body was there on the + rock, but his heart was out upon the black waters alongside + Nance, struggling with her through the belching coils, nerving + her through the treacherous swirls. And his soul—all that + was most really and truly him—was agonizing in prayer for + her before the God to whom he had prayed at his mother's knee, + and whom she had taught him to look to as a friend and helper in + all times of need.</p> + + <p>He did not even stop—as he well might have done—to + think that the friend sought only in time of need might have + reasonable ground for complaint of neglect at other times.</p> + + <p>He thought of nothing but that Nance was out there battling + with the black waters—that he could not lift a finger to + help her—that all he could do was to pray for her safety + with all his heart and soul.</p> + + <p>Then, after an age of this numb agony of waiting, a tiny bead + of light flickered on the outer darkness, as though Hope with a + golden pin-point had pricked the black curtain of despair, and + let a gleam of her glory peep through. It swung to and fro, and + he fell forward with his face in his ice-cold hands and sobbed, + "Thank God! Thank God! She is safe! She is safe!"</p> + + <p>When he tried to get up, his legs gave way under him, and he + had to sit and wait till they recovered. And when at last he got + under way along the ridge, he stumbled like a drunken man.</p> + + <p>He tangled his feet in the blanket and fell in a heap. He + wondered dimly where the cloak was—remembered Nance had + worn it till she took to the sea—and stumbled off through + the dark again to find it. Nance had worn it. To him it was + sacred.</p> + + <p>When he got back with it, he wrapped it round him and crept + into his shelter and slept like a dog.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER + XXVIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW THE OTHERS CAME TO MAKE AN END</h3> + + <p>He woke next morning with a start. The sun was high, by the + shadow of his doorway; and by that same token the tide would be + at half-ebb, if not lower, and the gates of his fortress at his + enemy's mercy.</p> + + <p>He picked up his gun, listened anxiously for sound of him, and + then crept cautiously out, with a quick glance along each + slope.</p> + + <p>Nothing!—nothing but the cheerful sun and the cloudless + sky, and the empty blue plain of the sea, and the birds circling + and diving and squabbling as usual—and Nance's little + parcel lying where she had dropped it. He had had other things to + think about last night.</p> + + <p>The composure of the birds reassured him somewhat. Still, they + might have landed on the other side of the rock and be lying in + wait for him.</p> + + <p>He picked up Nance's parcel with a feeling of reverence. It + might have cost her her life, in spite of her bladders. Then he + climbed cautiously to the ridge and peered over.</p> + + <p>Sark lay basking in the sunshine, peaceful and placid, as if + no son of hers had ever had an ill thought of his neighbour, much + less sought his blood.</p> + + <p>Not a boat was in sight, and the birds on the north slope + seemed as undisturbed as their fellows on the south.</p> + + <p>The invasion in force needed time perhaps to prepare and would + be all the more conclusive when completed.</p> + + <p>Meanwhile, he would eat and watch at the same time, for he + felt as empty as a drum, and an empty man is not in the pinkest + of condition for a fight.</p> + + <p>Never in his life had he tasted bread so sweet!—and the + strips of boiled bacon in between came surely from a most unusual + pig—a porker of sorts, without a doubt, and of most + extraordinary attainment in the nice balancing of lean and fat, + and the induing of both with vital juices of the utmost strength + and sweetness. Truly, a most celestial pig!—and he was very + hungry.</p> + + <p>Had he been a pagan he would most likely have offered a + portion of his slim rations as thank-offering to his gods, for + they had come to him at risk of a girl's life. As it was, he ate + them very thoughtfully to the very last crumb, and was + grateful.</p> + + <p>They had been wrapped in a piece of white linen, and then tied + tightly in oiled cloth, and were hardly damped with sea-water. + The piece of linen and the oiled cloth and the bits of cord he + folded up carefully and put inside his coat.</p> + + <p>They spoke of Nance. If they had drowned her she would have + gone with them tied on to her head. He took them out again, and + kissed them, and put them back.</p> + + <p>Thank God, she had got through safely! Thank God! Thank + God!</p> + + <p>He shivered in the blaze of the sun as his eyes rested on the + waves of the Race, bristling up against the run of the tide as + usual, and he thought of what it might have meant to him this + morning.</p> + + <p>It had swallowed Bernel. In spite of his hopeful words to + Nance, he feared the brave lad was gone. And it might have + swallowed Nance. And if it had—it might as well have him, + too. For it was only thought of Nance that made life bearable to + him.</p> + + <p>The sun wheeled his silvery dance along the waters; the day + wore on;—and still no sign of the invaders. Sark looked as + utterly deserted as it must have done in the lone days after the + monks left it, when, for two hundred years, it was given over to + the birds, till de Carteret and his merry men came across from + Jersey and woke it up to life again.</p> + + <p>And then, of a sudden, his heart kicked within him as if it + would climb into his throat and choke him; for, round the distant + point of the Lâches, a boat had stolen out, and, as he + watched it anxiously, there came another, and another, and + another. They were coming!</p> + + <p>Four boat-loads! That ought to be enough to make full sure of + him. He wondered why they had not come sooner, for the tide was + on the rise, and the landing-places did not look tempting.</p> + + <p>His gun was under his hand, and his powder-flask and his + little bag of shot. He had no more preparations to make, and he + had no wish to fight.</p> + + <p>No wish? The thought of it was hateful to him, and yet it was + not in human nature to give in without a struggle.</p> + + <p>But it should be all their doing. All he wanted was to be left + in peace. Every man has the right to defend his own life.</p> + + <p>But then, again—there could be only one end to it, he + knew. So why fight?</p> + + <p>They were coming to make an end of him. What good was it to + make an end of any of them?</p> + + <p>Even if he should succeed in keeping them off this time, the + end would come all the same, only it would be longer of coming. + Why prolong it?</p> + + <p>The boats came bounding on like hounds at sight of the quarry. + They were well filled, four or five men in each boat, besides the + oarsmen. Enough, surely, to make an end of one lone man.</p> + + <p>Would they attempt to land in different places and rush him, + he wondered. Or would they content themselves with lying off and + attempting to shoot him down from a distance? The last would be + the safest all round, both for them and for him—for, + landing, they would, for the moment, be more or less at his + mercy; and, snapping at him from a distance, he would have + certain chances of cover in his favour.</p> + + <p>The top of the ridge was flattened in places, there were even + depressions here and there, very slight, but quite enough to + shelter any one lying prone in them from bombardment from + sea-level. He chose the deepest he could find, and crawled into + it, and lay, with his chin in his hands, watching the oncoming + boats.</p> + + <p>If he could have managed it, he would have slipped down to the + rock wall and crept into his burrow, but it was on that side the + boats were coming, and the sharp eyes on board would inevitably + see him, and so get on the track of his hiding-place.</p> + + <p>If the chance offered—if they left that end of the rock + unspied upon for three minutes—he would try it.</p> + + <p>They parted at the Quette d'Amont, two going along the south + side and two along the north. He could hear their voices, their + rough jests and brief laughter, as they crept past.</p> + + <p>It was an odd sensation, this, of lying there like a hunted + hare, knowing that it was him they were after.</p> + + <p>He pressed still closer to the rock, and did not dare to raise + his head for a look. The voices and the sound of the oars died + away, came again, died again, as the boats slowly circled the + rock, every keen eye on board, he knew, searching every nook and + cranny for sign of him.</p> + + <p>Then a shot rang out, over there towards the south-west, and + another, and another. Tired of inaction, they were peppering his + bee-hive to stir him up in case he was fast asleep inside.</p> + + <p>The other boats rowed swiftly round to the firing, and he + could imagine them clustered there in a bunch, watching hopefully + for him to come out; and his blood boiled and chilled again at + thought of what might have been if he had been caught + napping.</p> + + <p>And then, seizing his chance, he crawled to the opposite side + of his hollow, peeped over, and saw the way clear. If only they + would go on peppering the bee-hive for another minute or two, he + would have time to slip down the Sark side of his rock and get to + the great wall, and so down into his new hiding-place.</p> + + <p>If they tried to land, he could perhaps kill or wound two, + three, half-a-dozen, at risk of his own life. But the end would + be the same. With a dozen good shots coolly potting at him, he + must go down in time, and he had no desire either to kill or to + be killed.</p> + + <p>He wormed himself over the edge of his hollow and hurried + along to the tumbled rocks, carrying his gun and + powder-flask—not that he wanted them, but wanted still less + to leave them behind. He scrambled over, found his marked rocks, + and slipped safely under the overhanging slab. There he could + peep out without danger of being seen; and he was barely under + cover when the first boat came slowly round again, every bearded + face intent on the rock, every eye searching for sign of him.</p> + + <p>The other boats passed, and as each one came it seemed to him + that every eye on board looked straight up into his own, and he + involuntarily shrank down into the shadow of the slab. They could + not possibly see him, he was certain; and yet a thrill ran + through him each time their searching glances crossed his + own.</p> + + <p>The rough jests and laughter of the boats had given way now to + angry growls at his invisibility. He could hear them cursing him + as they passed, and even casting doubts on the veracity of his + visitors of the previous night. And these latter upheld their + statements with such torrents of red-hot patois that, if they had + come to grips and fought the matter out, he would not have been + in the least surprised.</p> + + <p>Then there came a long interval, when no boats came round. + They had probably taken their courage in their hands and landed, + and were searching the island. He dropped noiselessly into his + well and clambered up into the tunnel, and lay there with only + his head out.</p> + + <p>And, sure enough, before long he heard the sound of big + sea-boots climbing heavily over the rock wall, and the voices of + their owners as they passed.</p> + + <p>What would they do next, he wondered. Would they imagine him + flown, as the result of their last night's visit? Or would they + believe him still on the island and bound to come out of his + hiding-place sooner or later? Would they give it up and go home? + Or would they leave a guard to trap him when hunger and thirst + brought him out?</p> + + <p>He lay patiently in the mouth of his tunnel till long after + the last glimmer of light had faded from under the big slabs that + covered in his well. More than once he heard voices, and once + they came so close that he was sure they had come upon his + tracks, and he crept some distance down his tunnel to be out of + sight. But the alarm proved a false one, and the time passed very + slowly.</p> + + <p>As he lay, he thought of the dead man with the bound hands and + feet in the silent chamber behind him, bound by the forebears of + these men, who, in turn, were seeking him, and would treat him as + ruthlessly if they found him.</p> + + <p>He took the lesson to heart, and braced himself to patient + endurance, though, indeed, he began to ask himself gloomily what + was the use of it all. In the end, their venomous persistence + must make an end of him. One man could not fight for ever against + a whole community.</p> + + <p>And at that he chided himself. Not a whole community! For was + not Nance on his side—hoping and praying and working for + him with all her might and main? And her mother, and Grannie, and + the Vicar, and the Doctor, and the Sénéchal? He was + sure they all knew him far too well to doubt him. And all these + and the Truth must surely prevail.</p> + + <p>But the long strain had been sore on him, and in spite of his + anxieties he fell asleep in his hole, and dreamed that the dead + man came crawling down the tunnel, and dragged him back into the + chamber, and tied his hands and feet, and went away, and left him + to die there all alone. And so strong was the impression upon him + that, when he woke, he lay wondering who had loosed his bonds, + and could not make out how he had got back into the mouth of the + tunnel.</p> + + <p>It was still quite dark. He was stiff with lying in that + cramped place. He was strongly tempted to climb out and see how + matters lay. For he might be able to find out in the dark, + whereas daylight would make him prisoner again.</p> + + <p>He wanted eggs, too. Nance's provision had served him well all + day, but if he had to spend another day there something more + would be welcome.</p> + + <p>But then it struck him that if he went up in the dark he might + never be able to find his way back again. The cleft under the + slab was difficult to hit upon even in daylight. There were + scores of just similar ragged black holes among the tumbled rocks + of the great wall.</p> + + <p>As he lay pondering it all, the grim idea came into his head + of dragging the dead man through the tunnel, and hoisting him up + outside, and leaving him propped up among the boulders where they + would be sure to find him.</p> + + <p>He knew how arrantly superstitious they were, most of them. + They had been brought up on ghosts and witches and evil spirits, + and, fearless as they might be of things mortal and natural, all + that bordered on the unknown and uncanny held for them + unimaginable terrors. The dead man might serve a useful purpose + after all; and the grim idea grew.</p> + + <p>He could decide nothing, however, till he learned if he had + the rock to himself; and he determined to take the risk of + finding this out.</p> + + <p>He cautiously climbed the well, and by the look of the stars + he judged it still very early morning. A brooding grey darkness + covered the sea; the sky was dark even in the east.</p> + + <p>He slipped off his coat and left it hanging out of the cleft + as a landmark, and lowered himself silently from rock to rock, + till he stood among the rank grasses below.</p> + + <p>Food first—so, after patient listening for smallest + sound or sign of a watch, he crept down to the slope where the + puffins' nests were, and, wrapping his hand in Nance's napkin, + managed to get out a dozen eggs from as many different holes, in + spite of the fierce objections of their legitimate owners.</p> + + <p>He tied these up carefully in the blood-spotted cloth, and + carried them up to his cleft. Then he stole away like a shadow, + to find out, if he could, if there was any one else on the rock + besides himself and the dead man.</p> + + <p>There had been hot disputes on that head in the boats. Those + who were there for the first time had even gone the length of + casting strongest possible doubts as to whether those who were + there the night before had seen or heard anything whatever, and + did not hesitate to state their belief that they were all on a + fool's errand. The others replied in kind, and when the further + question was mooted as to keeping watch all night, the scoffers + told the others to keep watch if they chose; for themselves, they + were going home to their beds.</p> + + <p>"Frightened of ghosts, I s'pose," growled one.</p> + + <p>"No more than yourself, John Drillot. But we've wasted a day + on this same fooling, and the man's not here; and for me, I doubt + if he's ever been here."</p> + + <p>"And what of the things we found in the shelter?" said + Drillot. "Think they came there of themselves?"</p> + + <p>"I don't care how they came there. It's not old cloaks and + blankets we came after. Maybe he has been here. I don't know. But + he's not here now, and I've had enough of it."</p> + + <p>"B'en! I'm not afraid to stop all night—if anyone'll + stop with me"—and if no one had offered he would have been + just as well pleased. "Don't know as I'd care to stop all + alone."</p> + + <p>"Frightened of ghosts, maybe," scoffed the other.</p> + + <p>"You stop with me, Tom Guille, and we'll see which is + frightenedest of ghosts, you or me."</p> + + <p>But Tom Guille believed in ghosts as devoutly as any old woman + in Sark, and he was bound for home, no matter what the rest chose + to do.</p> + + <p>"There's not a foot of the rock we haven't searched," said he, + "and the man's not here; so what's the use of waiting all + night?"</p> + + <p>"Because if he's in hiding it's at night he'll come out."</p> + + <p>"Come out of where?"</p> + + <p>"Wherever he's got to."</p> + + <p>"That's Guernsey, most likely. His friends have arranged to + lift him off here first chance that came; and it came before we + did, and you'll not see him in these parts again, I warrant + you."</p> + + <p>"I'll wait with you, John, if you're set on it, though I doubt + Tom's right, and the man's gone," said Peter Vaudin of La Ville. + And John Drillot found himself bound to the adventure.</p> + + <p>"Do we keep the boat?" asked Vaudin.</p> + + <p>"No ... for then one of us must sit in her all night, or she + will bump herself to pieces. You will come back for us in the + morning, Philip."</p> + + <p>"I'll come," said Philip Guille, and presently they stood + watching the boats pulling lustily homewards, and devoutly + wishing they were in them.</p> + + <p>Every foot of the rock, as they knew it, had already been + carefully raked over. The possible hiding-places were few. But no + one knows better than a Sark man what rocks can do in the way of + slits and tunnels and caves, and it was just this possibility + that had set John Drillot to his unwonted, and none too welcome, + task. The murderer—as he deemed Gard—might have found + some place unknown to any of them, and might be lying quietly + waiting for them to go. If that was so, he must come out sooner + or later, and the chances were that he would steal out in the + night.</p> + + <p>So the two watchers prowled desultorily about the rock, poking + again into every place that suggested possible concealment for + anything larger than a puffin. There might be openings in the + rifted basement rocks which only the full ebb would discover, and + these might lead up into chambers where a man could lie high and + dry till the tide allowed him out again. And so they hung + precariously over the waves and poked and peered, and found + nothing.</p> + + <p>They had clambered over the great wall more than once before + Vaudin said: "G'zamin, John, I wonder if there's any holes here + big enough to take a man?"</p> + + <p>"He'd have to be a little one, and this Gard's not that," and + they stood looking at the wall. "'Sides, them rocks lie on the + rock itself, and there's no depth to them."</p> + + <p>But Vaudin was not sure that there might not be room for a man + to lie flat under some of the big slabs, and began to poke about + among them.</p> + + <p>"Some one's been up here," he said, pointing to one of Gard's + own scorings.</p> + + <p>"Bin up there four times myself," said Drillot, "an' so have + all the rest. There's no room to hide a man there, Peter. If he's + hid anywhere, he'll come out in the night. Maybe Philip Guille's + right, and he's safe in Guernsey by this. Come along to that + shelter and let's have a drink."</p> + + <p>They had their bottle out of the boat, and they had also come + upon Gard's bottle of cognac, of which quite half remained. It + was a finer cordial than their own, so they sat drinking them + turn about, and watching the sun set, and chatting spasmodically, + till it grew too dark to do more than sit still with safety.</p> + + <p>They were by no means drunk, but the spirits had made them + heavy, and when John Drillot solemnly suggested that they should + keep watch about, Peter Vaudin as solemnly agreed, and offered to + take first duty.</p> + + <p>So John curled his length inside the bee-hive, and made + himself comfortable with Gard's cloak and blanket, and was + presently snoring like a whole pig-sty. And that had a soporific + effect on Peter. He had only stopped behind to oblige John, and + personally had little expectation of anything coming of it. + Moreover, the night air was chilly. If he could get that cloak + from John now! He crawled in to try, but big John was rolled up + like a caterpillar. It was warmer inside there than out, anyway. + And he could keep watch there just as well as outside; so he + propped himself up alongside John, and braced his mind to sentry + duty.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER + XXIX</h2> + + <h3>HOW HE CAME INTO AN UNKNOWN PLACE</h3> + + <p>Having lodged his eggs in a ledge under the big slab, Gard + stole away to learn, if he could, if he had the rock all to + himself.</p> + + <p>He wanted water, and he wanted his bottle of cognac and the + tin dipper; for puffins' eggs, while not unpalatable beaten up + with cognac, are of a flavour calculated to exercise the + strongest stomach when eaten raw.</p> + + <p>He feared the men would have made away with all his small + possessions, but he could only try. So he stole like a shadow + round the crown of the ridge and along towards the shelter, + standing at times motionless for whole minutes till the rush of + the waves below should pass and give him chance of hearing.</p> + + <p>But on L'Etat the sound of many waters never ceases night or + day, and the night wind hummed among the stones of the shelter, + and, as it happened, John Drillot had just lurched over in + avoidance of a lump of rock which was intruding on his comfort, + and in so doing had lodged his heavy boot in Peter Vaudin's ribs, + and so their sonorous duet was stilled, and neither of them was + very sound asleep, when Gard, after listening anxiously and + hearing nothing, dropped on his hands and knees and felt + cautiously inside.</p> + + <p>Peter felt the blind hand groping in the dark, and was wide + awake in an instant. He hurled himself at the intruder, as well + as a man could who had been lying back against the wall half + asleep a moment before; and Gard turned and sped away along the + side of the ridge, with Peter at his heels and John Drillot + thundering ponderously in the rear.</p> + + <p>"What is't, Peter boy?" shouted John.</p> + + <p>"It's him. This way!" yelled Peter, out of the dimness in + front, as he stumbled and staggered along the ragged inadequacies + of the ridge.</p> + + <p>If Gard had had time for consideration, he would have led them + a chase elsewhere first, but, in the sudden upsetting of lighting + on what he had persuaded himself was not there, he lost his head + and made straight for cover.</p> + + <p>Peter Vaudin was at the base of the rock wall as he wriggled + silently under the big slab, and it was only by a violent jerk + that he got his foot clear of Peter's grip. And Peter, strung to + the occasion, kept his hand on the spot where the foot had + disappeared, and waited a moment for John Drillot to come up + before he followed it.</p> + + <p>"Gone in here," he jerked, as he climbed cautiously up.</p> + + <p>"Can't have gone far, then," panted John. "Sure it was + him?"</p> + + <p>"Had him by the foot, but he got loose. Here we are," as he + poked about, and came at last on the hole below the slab. "Come + on, John ... can't be far away.... Big hole"—as he kicked + about down below—"no bottom, far as I can see."</p> + + <p>"Best wait for daylight, to see where we're getting."</p> + + <p>"Oui gia! Man doux, it's not me's going down here till I know + what's below."</p> + + <p>So they sat and kicked their heels and waited for the day, + certain in their own minds that their quarry was run to earth and + as good as caught.</p> + + <p>Gard had swept down both his coat and his cloth full of eggs + in his sudden entrance. He stood at the bottom of the well to see + if they would follow, while Peter's long legs kicked about for + foothold. He heard them decide to wait for daylight, and then he + noiselessly picked up his coat and his soppy bundle of broken + eggs, pushed them into the tunnel, and crawled in after them.</p> + + <p>He was trapped, indeed, but he doubted very much if any + fisherman on Sark would venture down that tunnel. They were + brawny men, used to leg and elbow room, and, as a rule, heartily + detested anything in the shape of underground adventure. They + might, of course, get over some miners to explore for them. Or + they might content themselves with sitting down on top of his + hole until he was starved out. In any case, his rope was nearly + run; but yet he was not disposed to shorten it by so much as an + inch.</p> + + <p>As he wormed his way along the tunnel, the recollection of + those other openings off the dead man's cave came back to him. He + would try them. He pushed on with a spurt of hope.</p> + + <p>The tunnel was not nearly so long now that he knew where he + was going; in fact, now that nothing but it stood between him and + capture, it seemed woefully inadequate.</p> + + <p>When his head and elbows no longer grazed rock he dropped his + coat and crawled into the chamber. He felt his way round to the + dried packages, and cautiously emptied half-a-dozen and prepared + them for his use.</p> + + <p>This set him sneezing so violently that it seemed impossible + that the watchers outside should not hear him. It also gave him + an idea.</p> + + <p>He struck a light and kindled one of his torches, and the dead + man leaped out of the darkness at him as before. That gave him + another idea.</p> + + <p>Propping up his light on the floor, he emptied package after + package of the powdered tobacco into the tunnel, and wafted it + down towards the entrance with his jacket. Then with his knife he + cut the lashings from the dead man's hands and feet, and carried + him across—he was very light, for all his substance had + long since withered out of him—and laid him in the tunnel + as though he was making his way out.</p> + + <p>If he knew anything of Sark men and miners, he felt fairly + secure for some time to come, so he sat himself down, as far as + possible from the snuff, and made such a meal as was possible off + puffins' eggs, mixed good and bad and unredeemed by any + palliating odour and flavour. They were not appetising, but they + stayed his stomach for the time being.</p> + + <p>It was only then that he remembered that he had left his gun + and powder-flask behind him. He had placed them on a ledge just + inside the mouth of the tunnel, and in his haste had forgotten to + pick them up. He had no intention of using them, however, and he + would not go back for them.</p> + + <p>When his scanty meal was done, he cautiously emptied a number + of the packages and rolled them into torches, and deliberated as + to which of the black openings he should attempt first.</p> + + <p>That one opposite, out of which the dead man's legs sprawled + grotesquely, was the one by which he had entered. This one, then, + near which he sat, must run on towards the centre of the + island—if it ran on at all; and, since all were equally + unknown and hopeful, he would try this first.</p> + + <p>His tarred paper torches, though they burned with a clear + flame, gave forth a somewhat pungent odour, so he kicked one of + the small barrels to pieces, and with three of the staves and a + piece of string made a holder which would carry the torch + upright, and also permit him to lay it on the ground or push it + in front of him, if need be.</p> + + <p>The first tunnel ran in about thirty feet, and then the slant + of the roof met the floor at so sharp an angle that further + passage was impossible.</p> + + <p>The second, third, and fourth the same; and he began to fear + they were all blind alleys leading nowhere.</p> + + <p>The openings near his own entrance tunnel he had left till the + last, since they obviously led outwards.</p> + + <p>Two of them shut down in the same way as all the others, and + it was only the dogged determination to leave no chance untried + that drove him, with a fresh supply of torches, down the last one + of all, the one alongside that out of which the dead man's legs + projected.</p> + + <p>It took a turn to the left within a dozen feet of the + entrance, and, like the rest, it presently narrowed down through + a slope in the roof; but just at its narrowest, when he feared he + had come to the end, there came a dip in the flooring + corresponding to the slope up above, and he found he could + wriggle through. Once through, the passage widened and continued + to widen, and the going became very rough and broken, with piles + of ragged rock and deep black pitfalls in between.</p> + + <p>Then, of a sudden, he saw the walls and roof of his passage + fall away, and his light flickered feebly in the darkness of a + vast place, and he crouched on the rock up which he had climbed, + and sat in wonder.</p> + + <p>Somewhere below him he could hear the slow rise and fall of + water, dull and heavy and without any splash, like the dumb + breathing of a captive monster.</p> + + <p>And every now and again there came, from somewhere beyond, a + low dull thud, like the blow of a padded hammer, and a distant + subdued rustle along the outside of the darkness. He knew it was + not inside the place he was in, for he could hear the soft rise + and fall of the water quite clearly, but these other sounds came + to him from a distance, muted as though his ears had suddenly + gone deaf.</p> + + <p>"Those dull blows," he said to himself, "are the waves on the + outside of L'Etat. That low rustling is the rush of them along + the lower rocks. The water inside here probably comes in through + some openings below tide-level. I am quite safe here, even if + they get past the dead man's cave—quite safe until I + starve. Unless there are fish to be had"—and he felt a + spark of hope. "And maybe there are devil-fish"—and he + shivered and glanced below and about him fearfully.</p> + + <p>His homely torch did no more than faintly illumine the rock he + sat on and those close at hand, and cast a gigantic uncouth + shadow of himself on the rough wall behind. All beyond was solid + darkness, blacker even than a black Sark night.</p> + + <p>He sat wondering vaguely if any before him had penetrated to + that strange place. It was odd and uncanny to feel that his eyes + were the very first to look upon it. And then, away in front, and + apparently at a great distance above him, he became aware of a + difference in the solid darkness. It seemed almost as though it + had thinned. His eye had seemed able for a moment to carry beyond + the narrow circle of the torch, but when he peered into the void + to see what this might mean, it all seemed solid as before.</p> + + <p>As his straining eyes sought relief in something visible, + their side-glance caught once more that same impression of + movement in the darkness. And presently it came again and + stronger—a strange greenish fluttering up in the + roof—very faint, as though the roof were smoke on which a + soft green light played for a moment and vanished.</p> + + <p>But by degrees the light grew, though at no time did it become + more than a wan ghost of a light, and from its curious fluttering + he judged that it came through water.</p> + + <p>Reasoning from the trend of the cavern, he came to the + conclusion that somewhere on that further side there were + openings into the deep water beyond, on which the sunlight played + and struck at times into the cave, and he was keen to look more + closely into it.</p> + + <p>He lowered his torch to the side of his rock, and its feeble + flicker fell on a chaos of rocks below. He looked long and + cautiously for supple yellow arms or tiny whip-like threads which + might coil suddenly round his legs and drag him to hideous + death.</p> + + <p>But he saw nothing of the kind. The rocks were dry and bare, + not a limpet nor a sea-weed visible, and leaving his jacket for a + landmark as before, he slowly let himself down from one huge + boulder to another, till he found himself climbing another great + pile in front.</p> + + <p>When at last his head rose above this ridge, he almost rolled + over at the sight of two huge green eyes blinking lazily at him + out of the darkness in front—two great openings far below + sea-level, through which filtered dimly the wavering green light + whose refractions fluttered in the roof.</p> + + <p>The vast trough below him heaved gently now and then, with a + ponderous solemnity which filled him with awe. He felt himself an + intruder. He felt like a fly creeping about a sleeping tiger. He + hardly dared to breathe, lest the brooding spirit of the place + should rise suddenly out of some dark corner and squash him on + his rock as one does a crawling insect; and his anxious eyes + swept to and fro for the smallest sign of danger.</p> + + <p>But, plucking up courage from immunity, and dreading to be + caught in the dark in that weird place, he crawled over the + boulders towards the side wall of the cavern to get as near to + those openings as possible. From the very slight movement of the + water, which was ever on the boil round the outside of L'Etat, he + judged them deep down among the roots of the island, far below + the turmoil of the surface, but he must see and make sure.</p> + + <p>With infinite toil and many a scrape and bruise, he got round + at last, and could look right down into the dim green depths, and + what he saw there filled him with sickening fear.</p> + + <p>The water was crystal clear, and in through the nearer + opening, as he looked, a huge octopus propelled itself in + leisurely fashion, its great tentacles streaming out behind, its + hideous protruding eyes searching eagerly for prey.</p> + + <p>Just inside the opening it gathered itself together for a + moment, and seemed to look so meaningly right up into his eyes + that he found himself shrinking behind a rock lest it should see + him. Then it clamped itself to the side of the opening and spread + wide its arms for anything that might come its way.</p> + + <p>He watched it, fascinated. He saw fishes large and small + unconsciously touch the quivering tentacles, which on the instant + twisted round them and dragged them in to the rending beak below + the hideous eyes. And then he saw another similar monster come + floating in on similar quest, and in a moment they were locked in + deadly fight—such a writhing and coiling and straining and + twisting of monstrous fleshy limbs, which swelled and thrilled, + and loosed and gripped, with venom past believing—such a + clamping to this rock and that—such tremendous efforts at + dislodgment.</p> + + <p>It was a nightmare. It sickened him. He turned and crawled + feebly away, anxious only now to get out of this awful place + without falling foul of any similar monsters among the rocks.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + + <h3>HOW NANCE WATCHED FROM AFAR</h3> + + <p>From the headland above Brenière, Nance had watched the + boats go plunging across to L'Etat.</p> + + <p>Very early that morning she had sped across the Coupée + and up the long roads to the Seigneurie, but the Seigneur was + away in Guernsey still, busied on the vital matter of raising + still more money for the mines in which he was a firm believer, + mortgaging his Seigneurie for the purpose, assured in his own + mind that all would be well in the end.</p> + + <p>Then to the Vicar and the Sénéchal, and these + set off at once for the harbour, but found themselves powerless + in the face of public opinion. Argument and remonstrance alike + fell on deaf ears. The Vicar appealed to their sense of right; + the Sénéchal forbade their going. But their minds + were doggedly set on it, and they went.</p> + + <p>"I shall hold you to account," stormed Philip Guille.</p> + + <p>"B'en, M. le Sénéchal, we'll pay it all among + us," and away they went; and back to her look-out by + Brenière went Nance, and the Vicar with her for comfort in + this dark hour.</p> + + <p>They watched the boats circling the rock, round and round. + They heard the firing, and Nance flung herself on the ground in + an agony of weeping, sure that the end had come. For they could + only be firing at Gard, and what could one man do against so + many?</p> + + <p>"They have killed him," she moaned.</p> + + <p>And the Vicar could only tighten his pale lips, and smooth her + hair with his thin white hand, as she writhed on the ground at + his side. For he could but think she was right. They were good + shots, the Sark men, and it needs but one bullet to kill a + man.</p> + + <p>If Nance had looked a moment longer she might have seen Gard + slip down from the ridge to the wall, but the bombardment of the + shelter, which gave him his chance, made an end of her hopes, and + her face was hidden in the turf.</p> + + <p>The Vicar's sight was not keen enough to see clearly what was + passing. But when the men landed on the rock, and overran it in + their search, he could not fail to see their figures on the ridge + against the sky, and an exclamation of surprise roused Nance.</p> + + <p>"What is it?" she jerked.</p> + + <p>"They have landed over there. They seem to be searching the + rock."</p> + + <p>"Then—" and she sat up suddenly and gazed intently + across at L'Etat, and then sprang to her feet, a new creature. + "For, see you, Mr Cachemaille," she cried, "if they had killed + him they would not be searching for him, nenni-gia!"</p> + + <p>"That is true, child," said the Vicar hopefully, and then, + less hopefully, "but where shall a man hide on L'Etat?"</p> + + <p>"Ah now! I remember. Just as I was leaving him last night, he + told me—"</p> + + <p>"As you were leaving him—last night?" and the old man + gazed at her as though he doubted his ears or her right + senses.</p> + + <p>"But yes," she cried impatiently. "I swam across there last + night to see if Bernel was there and to take him some food. But + you are not to tell that to any one. And he told me—"</p> + + <p>"You swam across?—to L'Etat?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes! We have done it many times, and, besides, I had the + bladders—"</p> + + <p>The Vicar shook his head helplessly. She forgot to explain so + much that he did not understand. But he grasped at one + thread.</p> + + <p>"And Bernel?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, my poor Bernel! He is drowned," she said, with a heave of + the breast, but with her eyes intent on L'Etat. "I wanted him to + take the bladders, but he would not; and it was the first night + after the storm, you see, and the waves were big still, and he + never got to L'Etat, and he never came back; so, you + see—"</p> + + <p>"Truly, you are being sorely tried, my child. But your brother + was a better swimmer than most. May we not hope—"</p> + + <p>But she shook her head, intent on the doings on the rock, and + full, for the moment, of the hope she could draw from Gard's hint + about a hiding-place of which she knew nothing. For if she and + Bernel had never discovered it, how should these others? And + obviously they were searching, for they prowled about the rock + like ants, and poked here and there, and wandered on and came + back. And if they still sought they had not yet found; and so + there was a new spring of hope in her heart.</p> + + <p>"Yes, truly, they are searching," she murmured, and forgot the + Vicar and all else.</p> + + <p>He tried to induce her to go back home with him, but she would + not move. For the moment all her hope in life was in peril on the + rock, and she must see all that went on; and finally he had to + leave her there, and she hardly knew that he had gone. She wanted + only to be left alone, to nurse her new-born hope and watch in + fear and trembling for any symptom of its overthrow.</p> + + <p>But she was not to be left in peace, for Madame Julie had + heard the firing also, and had come round the headland by the + miners' cottages, exulting in the fact that her enemy was run to + earth at last and was meeting righteous punishment.</p> + + <p>And as she prowled about there, chafing at the delay in the + return of the boats, she came suddenly on Nance gazing out at + L'Etat with a face—not, as Julie would have expected, + downcast and woe-begone, but full of eager expectancy. And the + sight of her, and in such case, stirred Julie to venom.</p> + + <p>"Ah then—there you are, mademoiselle, listening to the + end of your fancy gentleman! And the right end, too, ma foi! A + man that goes knocking his neighbours on the head—it's + right he should be shot like a rabbit—"</p> + + <p>Nance's face quivered, but she did not even look round.</p> + + <p>"You'll see them coming back presently, and they'll bring his + body back with them in the boat, all full of holes. And then I'll + feel that my Tom's paid for—"</p> + + <p>"Do you hear?" she cried, planting herself in front of Nance, + and jerking her hands up and down in her excitement and the + exaspeiation of receiving no response. "Do you hear me—you? + Or are you gone crazy for love of your murderer?"—and she + made as though to lay wild hands on the girl.</p> + + <p>"You are wicked! You are evil! You are a devil!" said Nance + through her little white teeth, and looked so as though she might + fly at her that Julie drew off.</p> + + <p>"Aha—spitfire!—wildcat!—you would bite?"</p> + + <p>Nance, all ashake with disgust, stooped suddenly and picked up + a lump of rock.</p> + + <p>"Go!" she said, in a voice of such concentrated fury that it + was little more than a whisper. "Go!—before I do you ill;" + and she looked so like it that Julie turned and fled, expecting + the rock between her shoulders at every step.</p> + + <p>But the rock was on the ground, and Nance was intent again on + L'Etat.</p> + + <p>She stood there watching, until she saw the boats put off, and + then she turned and sped like a rabbit—across the waste + lands—across the Coupée—over Clos Bourel + fields into Dixcart—over Hog's Back to the Creux.</p> + + <p>She ran through the tunnel just as the boats came up, and her + eyes were wide with expectant fear, as they swept them + hungrily.</p> + + <p>"What have you done then, out there, Philip Vaudin?" she + cried, as his boat's nose grated on the shingle.</p> + + <p>"Pardi, ma garche, we have done nothing."</p> + + <p>"But the shooting?"</p> + + <p>"Some one shot at the shelter to see if he was inside, and the + rest shot because they thought there must be something to shoot + at."</p> + + <p>"And you have not got him?" asked another disappointedly.</p> + + <p>"Never even seen him."</p> + + <p>"Ah ba!"</p> + + <p>"Either he's gone or he's under cover, though, ma fé, I + don't know where he'd find it on L'Etat," and Nance's heart beat + hopefully. "However, John Drillot and Peter Vaudin are stopping + the night in case he is still there and ventures out of his + hole," and her heart sank again, and kicked rebelliously that a + man should be hunted thus, like a rabbit.</p> + + <p>She spent a night of misery, wondering what was happening on + L'Etat, and was at her post above Brenière as soon as it + was light.</p> + + <p>She saw Philip Vaudin come round from the Creux in his boat + and run across to the rock, and almost as soon as he had + disappeared round Quette d'Amont, he came speeding back, alone, + and not to the harbour, but straight to the fishermen's rough + landing-place inside Brenière.</p> + + <p>"What is it then, Philip?" she asked anxiously, as he hauled + himself up the rocks on to the turf.</p> + + <p>"I've come for two miners," he panted, for he had come + quickly. "They've run him to earth in a hole, but they won't + either of them go in after him, and they want some one who + will."</p> + + <p>"Ah, then!"</p> + + <p>"Yes. He came out in the night, and they chased him, but he + got into his hole, and they're sitting on it ever since," and he + hurried away through the waste of gorse and bracken to the + miners' cottages.</p> + + <p>Volunteers were evidently not over plentiful. It was a + considerable time before he came back with a Welshman, Evan + Morgan, and a young Cornishman, John Trevna, and neither of them + seemed over eager for the job.</p> + + <p>"For, see you," had been Morgan's view, "coing in a hole after + a man what hass a gun iss not a nice pissness, no inteet!" and + the Cornishman agreed with him.</p> + + <p>However, they put off, and Nance crouched in the bracken and + watched all their doings.</p> + + <p>She had long since caught sight of John Drillot and Peter + Vaudin sitting on the rock wall, and wondered what kind of a + hiding-place Gard could possibly have found therein. A poor one, + she feared, and that the end would be quick.</p> + + <p>The boat disappeared round the corner, and presently she saw + the three men join the others at the wall, and they all clustered + there and talked, and then one by one they disappeared into the + wall itself, and she sat watching in fear and trembling.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER + XXXI</h2> + + <h3>HOW TWO WENT IN AND THREE CAME OUT</h3> + + <p>"It iss better to sit here two, three days till he comse out + than to go in and get yourself killt, yes inteet!" was the burden + of Evan Morgan's answer to all their arguments for a speedy + assault. And "Iss, sure!" was Trevna's curt, complete + endorsement.</p> + + <p>But when, at John Drillot's suggestion, they had squeezed + under the slab to have a look at what lay below, and had peered + down the slit that Gard tried first, and had then lighted on the + tunnel, and had found the gun and powder-flask jammed in a + crevice—that put a different face on the matter.</p> + + <p>And, after prolonged discussion as to the proper method of + procedure, especially in the matter of precedence, it was at last + arranged that Evan Morgan should go first with his miner's lamp, + and that John Trevna should follow close behind, carrying the + gun.</p> + + <p>"And iss it understood that I shoot him if I see him?" asked + Trevna, to make sure of his ground and make his conscience + easy.</p> + + <p>"Pardi, yes, mon gars! Shoot straight, and the Island will + thank you," asserted John Drillot.</p> + + <p>"Ant for Heaven's sake, John Trevna, see you ton't shoot me + behint by mistake," urged Evan Morgan; and they disappeared + slowly into the tunnel, while the other two stood waiting + expectantly in the well.</p> + + <p>Accustomed as they were to narrow places, this long worm-hole + of a tunnel, with the doubtful possibilities that lay beyond it, + seemed as endless to the militant members of the expedition as it + did to the waiters outside.</p> + + <p>Occasionally a hollow sound came booming down the tunnel, when + one or other grunted out a word of objurgation on the narrowness + of things, but for the most part they wormed along in silence, + Morgan shifting forward his lamp, foot by foot, and straining his + eyes into the darkness ahead, Trevna close behind with his gun at + full cock and ready for instant action.</p> + + <p>"Gad'rabotin, but they take their time, those two!" said John + Drillot, impatiently, outside.</p> + + <p>"It iss going right through to Wailee, I do think," growled + Evan Morgan inside.</p> + + <p>And it was just after that that there broke out in the depths + of the tunnel a commotion so extraordinary that the listeners + outside could make nothing at all of it, and could only lurch + about in amazement and climb up and push their heads into the + tunnel, and wonder what it all meant. Then, in the midst of the + turmoil, there came the thunderous bellow of the gun, and after a + time a trickle of thin blue smoke floated lazily out and hung + about the well; and the men outside sniffed appreciatively, and + said, "Ch'est b'en!" and waited hopefully.</p> + + <p>Evan Morgan, shifting forward his light, got an impression of + something in the narrow way in front, and suddenly he was taken + with the biggest fit of sneezing he had ever had in his life. He + banged down the lamp and threw up his head till it cracked + against the roof, then banged his chin against the floor, and + finally propped himself, like a sick dog, on his two front paws, + and sneezed and sneezed and sneezed for dear life.</p> + + <p>Then John Trevna began. He had the sense to lay down his gun, + or Morgan might have got the charge in his back. And so they + sneezed in concert, until their heads were clearer than they had + been for many a day. And the sound of it all to those outside was + like the sound of mortal combat.</p> + + <p>Then Morgan, wiping his streaming eyes on the sleeve of his + coat, in a state of extreme exhaustion, caught sight of that + which lay just beyond him, and he saw that it was a man crawling + down the tunnel to meet him.</p> + + <p>"Shoot, John, shoot! He iss here," he yelled, and laid himself + flat to give Trevna his chance.</p> + + <p>And Trevna, between two sneezes, picked up his gun, though he + could see nothing to shoot at, and ran the barrel forward above + Morgan's head and fired, and the roar of it in that confined + space came near to deafening them both.</p> + + <p>The smoke hung thick and choked them, as they gasped it in in + gulps while they sneezed, and the light had gone out with the + concussion.</p> + + <p>They lay for a time exhausted. Then the atmosphere cleared + somewhat, and they lay in the thick darkness straining their ears + for any sound, but heard nothing.</p> + + <p>"What did you see, Evan Morgan?" whispered Trevna at last.</p> + + <p>"It wass a man."</p> + + <p>"Then I have killed him, for he does not move. Can you light + the lamp?"</p> + + <p>"I can not—in here. I am coing out. I haf hat enough of + this."</p> + + <p>"We must take him out, too."</p> + + <p>"You can tek him, then, John Trevna. I haf hat enough of him + and this hole."</p> + + <p>"Don't be a fool, Evan Morgan. If it wass a man, and he got + that load in him as close as that, he iss deader than Tom + Hamon."</p> + + <p>"Well, you can go an' see. I am coing out," and he began to + wriggle backwards, and Trevna was fain to go too.</p> + + <p>But presently they came to one of the somewhat wider places + where the wall had fallen away, and Trevna squeezed himself + tightly into this.</p> + + <p>"You go on, then, Evan Morgan," he said, "if you can get past, + and I will go back and bring him out."</p> + + <p>"You are a fool, John Trevna, to meddle with him any more. Iff + the man iss dead, he iss just as well left there."</p> + + <p>"If he iss dead he cannot harm me, and I would like to see the + man I have killed."</p> + + <p>"Ugh!" grunted Morgan, and crawled on, legs first.</p> + + <p>Trevna wormed along up the tunnel, groping cautiously in front + of him at each forward lurch, and at last his hands fell on what + he sought, and at the same moment he began sneezing again.</p> + + <p>It would be no easy job dragging a dead man all down that + tunnel, he thought. But when, after cautious feeling here and + there, he got a grip of the man's coat collar, to his surprise it + came away in his hand, but at the same time it seemed to him that + the body was extraordinarily light.</p> + + <p>He tried again with a fresh grip on the coat, but it tore like + paper, and, after thinking it over, he unstrapped his leather + belt and got it round the man below the armpits, and so was able + to haul him slowly along.</p> + + <p>When Evan Morgan's wriggling legs came slowly out of the + tunnel, John Drillot and Peter Vaudin were almost dancing with + excitement, and their first surprise was the sight of him when, + by rights, John Trevna should have been the one to come out + first.</p> + + <p>"Well then? What have you done? And where is John Trevna?" + cried John Drillot.</p> + + <p>"Ach! He iss a fool. He hass shot the man and now he will + pring him out when he woult pe much petter buried where he + iss."</p> + + <p>"He's quite right. What was all the noise about?"</p> + + <p>"That wass the shooting."</p> + + <p>"Before that. You all seemed to be howling at once."</p> + + <p>"That wass the sneezing. It iss full of sneezing down there," + and his red eyes still showed the effect of it.</p> + + <p>It was a long time before they heard the laboured sounds of + Trevna's coming. But at last his legs wriggled out, then his + body, then with a lurch he hauled up to the mouth of the tunnel + that which he had brought with him. And at sight of it they all + started back against the sides of the well, with various cries + but equal amazement.</p> + + <p>"O mon Gyu!" cried Peter Vaudin.</p> + + <p>"Thousand devils!" cried John Drillot.</p> + + <p>"Heavens an' earth!" gasped Evan Morgan.</p> + + <p>John Trevna gazed open-mouthed, for he had little breath left + in him.</p> + + <p>And from the black mouth of the tunnel the strange and + terrible figure of the dead man looked quietly down at them and + filled them with amazement.</p> + + <p>Trevna's heavy charge had blown in the top of the skull. The + shrunken yellow face wore the gaunt eager look of one who had + died the slow death of starvation. It seemed to be trying to get + at them to bite and rend them.</p> + + <p>Peter Vaudin was the first to climb the wall behind him, but + the rest were close at his heels, and hustled him up through the + crack under the slab.</p> + + <p>Peter struck down towards the landing-place the moment he had + wriggled through.</p> + + <p>"Stop then, Peter," called John Drillot, in a low insistent + voice, lest that dreadful thing below should hear him.</p> + + <p>"Not me! I've had enough, John Drillot. That is not what we + came for ... and I had hold of its leg last night," and he + shivered at the recollection, and the thought that it might have + turned on him and gripped him with its grisly hands.</p> + + <p>"I don't know what it is," began John Drillot, + "but—"</p> + + <p>"It's the man I shot inside there," said Trevna.</p> + + <p>"That man hass peen det a hundert years," said Morgan.</p> + + <p>"All the same, he was running about last night," said Peter, + "and I had hold of his leg"—with another shiver.</p> + + <p>"He's dead enough now, anyway," said Drillot.</p> + + <p>"Eh b'en! leave him where he is, and let's get away. I've + heard say there were ghosts on L'Etat, and now I know it. No good + comes of meddling with these things."</p> + + <p>"But we ought to take him with us."</p> + + <p>"Take him with us!" almost shrieked Peter. "And let him loose + on Sark! Why then?"</p> + + <p>"Whatever he was last night, he's dead enough now.... Will you + help me to get him up, John Trevna?"</p> + + <p>"Iss, sure! He's got my belt."</p> + + <p>"Not in my boat, John Drillot," cried Peter. "Not in my boat. + I've had enough of him, pardi!" and he set off at speed for the + boat.</p> + + <p>"Don't be a fool, Peter. You, Evan Morgan, run down and stop + him going. Come on, John Trevna," and after peering cautiously + down to make sure the dead man had not moved, they dropped into + the well again.</p> + + <p>The shrivelled figure was very light, as Trevna had found. It + was only their repugnance at handling it that made their task a + heavy one. One above and one below, they managed at last to get + it up above ground, and then John Trevna slipped his belt to its + middle, and carried it with one hand down the slope to the + boat.</p> + + <p>There they found Evan Morgan holding the approach to the + landing-place against Peter, with a lump of rock, while Philip, + in the boat below, stood shouting at them to know what was the + matter.</p> + + <p>At sight of the others and their burden, however, he had no + eyes for anything else.</p> + + <p>"What have you got there, John Drillot?"</p> + + <p>"A dead man."</p> + + <p>"Aw, then! That's not Gard."</p> + + <p>"It's the only man here, anyway. Pull close up, + Philip—"</p> + + <p>"Not in my boat, John Drillot!" from Peter.</p> + + <p>"We must take this to the Sénéchal," said John + angrily. "If you don't want to come you can wait here. If you + don't make less noise, I will knock you on the head myself," and + he jumped down into the boat, and took the dead man from Trevna, + and laid him carefully in the bows. The others jumped in, and + Peter, sooner than be knocked on the head or left behind, sulkily + followed, and sat himself on the extreme edge of the stern as far + away from the dead man as he could get.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER + XXXII</h2> + + <h3>HOW JULIE MEDITATED EVIL</h3> + + <p>Nance had crouched all the morning, in the bracken above + Brenière, on the knife-edge of expectancy. And behind her, + at a safe distance, crouched Julie Hamon, watching Nance and + L'Etat at the same time, as a cat in the shade watches a sparrow + playing in the sunshine.</p> + + <p>"What will be the end? What will be the end?" sighed Nance. + They had all gone down out of sight, across there, and it was + terrible to sit here waiting, waiting, waiting for what she + feared.</p> + + <p>If they had indeed run Gard to his hiding-place, as Philip + Vaudin had said, there could be but one possible end to it; and + she sat, sad-eyed and wistful, waiting for them to come up + again.</p> + + <p>It seemed as if they would never come, and she never took her + eyes off the rock wall on L'Etat.</p> + + <p>And then at last she sprang to her feet. One of them had come + up again. She could not see which. Then the others appeared, and + they seemed to stand talking. Then one went off round the slope + and another ran after him, and the other two went back into the + rock wall.</p> + + <p>What could they be at? She stood gazing intently.</p> + + <p>The two came up again, and—yes—they carried + something, or one of them did, and they two went off round the + corner also. And presently she saw the boat coming round, and saw + by its head that it was for the Creux. She turned and sped across + by the same way as yesterday, and Julie followed her at a safe + distance. And it seemed to Nance, as she hurried through the + familiar hedge-gaps and lanes and across the headlands, that the + world had lost its brightness, and that life was desperately hard + and trying.</p> + + <p>On Derrible Head there might be a chance of seeing. She ran up + to the highest point by the old cannon, just as the boat was + coming in under La Conchée.</p> + + <p>And—oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu! yes—there, in the + bows, lay the body of a man!—and the tears she had kept + back all day broke out now in a fury of weeping. She could hardly + see, but she ran on, falling at times and bruising herself, + staggering to her feet again, stumbling blindly through a mist of + tears.</p> + + <p>The boat was drawn up by the time she got there, and a curious + crowd surrounded it. She pushed through. She must see.</p> + + <p>And then the weight fell off her heart, and it was all she + could do to keep from screaming. For this poor thing, whatever it + was, was not Stephen Gard and never had been.</p> + + <p>She wanted to sing and dance and scream her joy aloud. They + had not found him.</p> + + <p>"What is this, John Drillot?" asked Julie, alongside her, + black with anger, as she pointed to the body.</p> + + <p>"Ma fé—a ghost, they say. John Trevna shot him, + but he had been dead a long time before that, though he was alive + last night, for Peter had hold of his leg as he ran."</p> + + <p>"And where is the other—the one you went for?"</p> + + <p>"He's not on L'Etat, anyway, ma fille," and they lifted the + body on to a piece of sailcloth, and carried it off through the + tunnel for the Sénéchal to look into.</p> + + <p>So Stephen Gard's hiding-place had proved effective, and they + had not found him. But, of a certainty, he must be starving, and + so away home sped Nance, to prepare a parcel of food to take + across to him. And Julie, her black brows pinched together and + her face set in a frown of venomous intention, never once let her + out of her sight.</p> + + <p>It was after midnight when Nance stole across the fields, + carrying her little parcel and her swimming-bladders, and made + her way to Brenière point.</p> + + <p>It was a still night, with a sky full of stars, and her heart + was high for the moment, though when her thoughts ran on, in + spite of her, it fell again. For things could not go on this way + for ever, and she saw no way out.</p> + + <p>She dropped her outer things by a bush, and let herself + quietly down the rocks and into the water, and the black-faced + woman who presently stood by that bush snarled curses after her + and was filled with unholy exultation. For Nance could have only + one reason for going across there, and on the morrow the men + should hear of it, and she would give them no rest till Gard was + made an end of.</p> + + <p>What that thing was that they had brought home, she did not + know, but they were fools to be satisfied with that when the man + they had gone after was undoubtedly still on the rock.</p> + + <p>So she sat down by Nance's gown and cloak, and revolved + schemes for her discomfiture and the undoing of Stephen Gard.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER + XXXIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW HOPE CAME ONCE AGAIN</h3> + + <p>Nance found the passage of the Race more trying then ever + before. The strain of these latter days had been very great, and + the thought of Bernel tended to unnerve her.</p> + + <p>On the other hand, the knowledge that Gard had outwitted the + whole strength of the Island cheered and braced her, and she + struggled valiantly through the broken waters till at last she + hung panting on the black ledge where she was in the habit of + landing.</p> + + <p>She scrambled up among the boulders and made straight for the + great wall. She had decided in her own mind that he would + probably be somewhere in there, possibly afraid to come out, as + he would not know if the Sark men were still on the rock.</p> + + <p>As nearly as she could, she climbed to the place she had seen + the men go in, and then she cried softly, "Steve! Mr. Gard!" and + went on calling, as she moved up and down along the base of the + wall.</p> + + <p>And at last her heart jumped wildly as she heard her name + faintly from inside the wall, and presently Gard himself came + crawling from under the big slab and jumped down to her side.</p> + + <p>"Nance! You are a good angel to me," and he flung his arms + round her and kissed her again and again.</p> + + <p>"But oh, my dear, I would not have you risk your life for me + like this."</p> + + <p>"It is nothing. I am all right," said Nance, forgetting the + weariness and dangers of the passage in her joy at finding him + alive and well. "I have brought you food," and she pushed her + little parcel into his hands.</p> + + <p>"I hardly dare to eat it when I think what it has cost + you."</p> + + <p>"That would be foolish, and you must be starving."</p> + + <p>"Truly, I am hungry—"</p> + + <p>"Eat, then!" and she seized the package and began to tear it + open. "It will make me still more glad to see you eat."</p> + + <p>"Well, then—" and Nance was gladder than ever that she + had come.</p> + + <p>"Have they all gone back?" he asked anxiously, as he + munched.</p> + + <p>"They came back this morning, bringing a strange dead + man."</p> + + <p>"I know. I put him there—"</p> + + <p>"Who is he?"</p> + + <p>"I found him in a cave inside the rock. He had been left there + very many years ago with his hands and feet tied. I think he must + have been a Customs officer of long ago."</p> + + <p>Nance shivered, and he felt it.</p> + + <p>"You are cold, Nance dear, and I am thinking only of myself;" + and he took off his jacket and put it over her slim wet + shoulders, in spite of herself.</p> + + <p>"If they have all gone back we could go to the shelter. They + may have left some of the things there;" and they went along and + found the cloak and blanket, and he wrapped them about her.</p> + + <p>"I found a still larger cave out of the other one, and I was + in there when they came after me. I had put the dead man in the + tunnel, and when I came back he was gone; but I did not dare to + come out, for I was afraid they might be on the watch still."</p> + + <p>"The dead man frightened them. I do not think they will come + back. They are afraid of ghosts."</p> + + <p>"I hoped he would scare them. But what is to be the end of it + all, Nance dear? Things cannot go on this way. Would it be + possible to get me a boat and let me get over to Guernsey?"</p> + + <p>"If you will wait a little time, that is what we must do, if + the truth does not come out."</p> + + <p>"And meanwhile you may be drowned in trying to keep me from + starving."</p> + + <p>"I shall not be drowned and you shall not starve," she said + resolutely.</p> + + <p>"I would sooner live on puffins' eggs than have you swim + across that place. My heart goes right down into my feet when I + think of it."</p> + + <p>"There is no need. I am all right."</p> + + <p>"The Sénéchal and the Seigneur could not stop + them?"</p> + + <p>"Mr. Le Pelley is in Guernsey still. The + Sénéchal they would not listen to. But the truth + will come out if only you will wait."</p> + + <p>"If I get away, will you come to me, Nance? And all my life I + will give to making you happy."</p> + + <p>"Yes, I will come. But it will be sore leaving Sark. To a + Sark-born there is no other place in the world like Sark."</p> + + <p>"All my life I will give to making up for it."</p> + + <p>"We will see. Now I must go, or it will be daylight before I + get back."</p> + + <p>"I shall be in misery till I know you are safe."</p> + + <p>"It will be nearly light. I will wave to you from + Brenière;" and they went slowly round to the ledges, and + parted with kisses; and in the grey morning light he could, for a + time, follow the little white figure as it slipped bravely + through the bristling black waves of the Race.</p> + + <p>But presently he could see her no more, and could but wait, + full of anxiety and many prayers, for the signal that should tell + of her safety.</p> + + <p>But it did not come, and he grew desperate and full of + fears.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER + XXXIV</h2> + + <h3>HOW JULIE'S SCHEMES FELL FLAT</h3> + + <p>Nance found the return journey still more trying to her + strength, but she struggled through, and was devoutly thankful + when the slack water under Brenière was reached.</p> + + <p>She waded ashore almost too weary to stand, and had to cling + to the rough rocks till she recovered her breath. Then, slowly + and heavily, she dragged herself up the lower ledges to the + little plateau where her clothes were.</p> + + <p>Julie had sat revolving grim schemes in that black head of + hers.</p> + + <p>She hated the girl. She hated Gard. She hated Sark and every + one in it. Why had she ever come into these outer wilds? She + would have done with it all and get away back to the life that + was more to her taste.</p> + + <p>But first—yes, mon Dieu, she would leave them something + to remember her by.</p> + + <p>She had not a doubt that Gard was still on L'Etat. Nothing + else would take this girl across there. The shameless + hussy!—to go swimming across to see her man with nothing + but a white shift on!</p> + + <p>She could wound Gard through Nance. She could wound Nance + through Gard.</p> + + <p>She could wait for the girl as she came up the side of the + Head, and push her down again or crush her with a lump of + rock.</p> + + <p>But that might mean reprisals on the part of the Islanders. + She had had experience of the way in which they resented any ill + done to one of their number by an outsider. She had no wish to + join Gard on his rock.</p> + + <p>It would be better to hold the girl up to the scorn and + contempt of the neighbours; that would punish her. And by setting + the men on Gard's track again, that would punish him and her + too.</p> + + <p>And so she restrained the natural violence of her temper, + which would have run to rocks and bodily injury, and waited in + the bracken till Nance came stumbling along in the half-light. + Then up she sprang, with an unexpectedness that for the moment + took Nance's breath and set her heart pounding with dreadful + certainties of ghosts.</p> + + <p>"So this is how you go to visit your fancy monsieur on the + rock, is it, little Nance? And with nothing on but that! Oh + shame! What will the neighbours say when they hear how you swim + across to him, and you will not dare deny it?"</p> + + <p>But Nance, relieved in her mind on the score of ghosts, and + regaining her composure with her breath, simply turned her back + on her and proceeded as if she were not there.</p> + + <p>"And he is there still!" screamed Julie, dancing round with + rage to keep face to face with her. "I was sure of it, though + those fools could not find him. I'll see that he's found or + starved out, b'en sûr! Yes, if I have to go myself and see + to it. As for you—shameless one!—it's the last time + you'll swim across there, yes indeed!"—and she raved on and + on, as only an angry woman with a grievance can.</p> + + <p>Nance slipped her dress over her head and, under cover of it, + dropped off her wet undergarment, coolly wrung it out, put on her + cloak and walked away, Julie raging alongside with wild words + that tumbled over one another in their haste.</p> + + <p>Nance walked to the highest point behind Brenière, and + waved her white garment a dozen times to let Gard know she was + safe, and then turned and set off home through the waist-high + bracken and the great cushions of gorse. And close alongside her + went Julie, raging and raving the worse for her silence; for + there is nothing so galling to an angry soul as to find its most + venomous shafts fall harmless from the triple mail of quiet + self-possession.</p> + + <p>So they came through the other cottages to La Closerie, but + the neighbours were all asleep, and those who woke at the sound + of her violence, turned over and said, "It's only that mad + Frenchwoman in one of her tantrums. Why, in Heaven's name, can't + she go to sleep, like other folks?"</p> + + <p>Nance went into her own house and quietly closed the door. + Julie hammered on it with her fists, as she would dearly have + liked to hammer on Nance's face, and then cursed herself off into + her own place, slamming the door with such violence as to waken + all the fowls and set all the pigs grunting in their sleep.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER + XXXV</h2> + + <h3>HOW AN ANGEL CAME BRINGING THE TRUTH</h3> + + <p>Gard's eyes, straining into the dimness of the coming dawn + through what seemed to him a most terrible long time, so packed + was it with anxious fears, caught at last the white flicker of + Nance's signal, and he dropped down just where he stood, among + the rough stones of the ridge, with a grateful sigh.</p> + + <p>The strain was telling on him. He felt physically weak and + worn. Nance's devoted love and courage made his heart beat high, + indeed, but his fears on her account strung his laxed cords to + breaking point, and then left them looser than before.</p> + + <p>He must get away somehow, if only to prevent this constant and + terrible risking of her life on his behalf.</p> + + <p>He hardly dared to hope that his strategy with the dead man + would be of any permanent benefit to him, though there was no + knowing. Examination of the body would show that it had been dead + for very many years, but his knowledge of the Island + superstitions made him doubt if any Sark man would willingly + spend a night on L'Etat for a very long time to come.</p> + + <p>On the other hand, if the result of their discussions + confirmed them in the belief that he was still there, and if, as + he constantly feared, they should learn of Nance's comings, and + visit upon her the venom they harboured for him, they might so + invest the rock that escape would be impossible.</p> + + <p>Meagre living, starvation even, he would suffer rather than + live more amply at risk of Nance's life, but if the hope of + ultimate escape was taken from him then he might as well give in + at once and have done with it.</p> + + <p>So he lay there, in the broken rocks of the ridge, and looked + grimly on life. And the sun rose in a red ball over France, and + cleft a shining track across the grey face of the waters, and + drew up the mists and thinned away the clouds, till the great + plain of the sea and the great dome above were all deep flawless + blue, and he saw a thin white curl of smoke rise from the miners' + cottages on Sark.</p> + + <p>He lay there listless, nerveless, careless of life almost, an + Ishmael with every man's hand against him—worse off than + Ishmael, he thought, since Ishmael had a desert in which to + wander, and he was tied to this bare rock.</p> + + <p>But there was Nance! There was always Nance. And at thought of + her, his bruised soul found somewhat of comfort and courage once + more.</p> + + <p>He felt her quivering in his arms again as he pressed her + close. He felt again the willing surrender of her sweet wet face. + And the thought of it thrilled his cold blood and set it coursing + through his veins like new life. Yes, truly, while there was + Nance there was hope.</p> + + <p>Perhaps the Sénéchal and the Vicar would prevail + upon them. Perhaps they would give it up and leave him alone, and + then Nance would find him a boat and they would get across to + Guernsey. Perhaps, as she kept insisting, something would happen + to discover the truth.</p> + + <p>So he lay, while the sun mounted high and baked him on the + bare stones, but he did not find it hot.</p> + + <p>And then, of a sudden, he stiffened and lay watching + anxiously. For there, from out the Creux had come a + boat—and another, and another, and another—four + boat-loads of them again!</p> + + <p>So they were coming, after all, and his hopes died sudden + death.</p> + + <p>Well—let them come and take him and have their will. He + was not the first who had paid the price for what he had not + done, and human nature must fall to pieces if hung too long on + tenterhooks.</p> + + <p>He watched them listlessly. He could crawl into his innermost + cavern, of course, and could hold it against them all till the + end of time, which in this case would be but a trifling span, for + a man must eat to live. But what was the use? As well die quick + as slow, since there could be but one end to it. And then, to his + very great surprise, the boats crept slowly out of sight round + the corner of Coupée Bay, and he lay wondering.</p> + + <p>What could be the meaning of that? Why had they put in there? + Why couldn't they come on and finish the matter?</p> + + <p>The sea was all deserted again. If he had not just happened to + catch sight of them stealing across there, he would have felt + sure they were not coming to-day.</p> + + <p>Perhaps they were going to wait there till night, though why + on earth they should wait there instead of at the Creux, was past + his comprehension.</p> + + <p>And then, after a time, to his amazement, he saw them all go + crawling back the way they had come. One, two, three, + four—yes, they were all there, and they crept slowly round + Lâches point and disappeared, and left him gaping.</p> + + <p>It was past believing. It was altogether beyond him. He lay, + with his eyes glued to the point round which they had gone, + stupid with the wonder of it.</p> + + <p>They had actually given it up—for to-day, at least, and + gone back! He cudgelled his brains for the meaning of it all, + till they grew dull and weary with futile thinking.</p> + + <p>Perhaps Nance and the Vicar and the Sénéchal had + prevailed after all! Perhaps something had turned up at last to + prove to the Sark men their misjudgment! Perhaps—well, any + way, it was good to be left alone.</p> + + <p>He lay there, laxed with the over-strain of all this + upsetting, but rejoicing placidly in this one more day of + life.</p> + + <p>He felt like one granted a day's respite as he stands on the + scaffold with the rope round his neck.</p> + + <p>Never had the sun shone so brightly. Never had the silver sea + danced so merrily. It might be the last he would see of them.</p> + + <p>And the sun wheeled on towards Guernsey, and made his + deliberate preparations for a setting beyond the ordinary; for + the sun, you must know, takes a very special pride in showing the + great cliffs of Sark what he can do in the way of transformation + scenes and most transcendent colouring.</p> + + <p>And Stephen Gard lay there under the ridge on L'Etat, with the + wonder and beauty of it all in his face and in his heart, and + said to himself that it was probably the last sunset he would + ever see, and he was glad to have seen it at its best.</p> + + <p>He had a vague idea that heaven would be something like + that—tenderly soft and beautiful, and glowing with + radiances of unearthly splendour, which whispered to weary hearts + of the peace and joy that lay beyond, and gently called them home + to rest.</p> + + <p>His theology was, without doubt, of the most elemental and + objective, and would not have carried him any great lengths in + these days; but, for the time being, at all events, it lifted its + possessor to a plane of thought above his usual, and tended to + quietness and peace of mind.</p> + + <p>The sky right away into the east was glowing softly with the + wonders of the sunset, and there the delicate tones changed + almost momentarily. As his eye followed the tender grace of their + transformations, with a delight which he could neither have + expressed nor explained, it once more lighted suddenly upon that + which he had been looking for so anxiously all day long, and + brought him to earth like a broken bird.</p> + + <p>Once more a boat had come round the point of Les Lâches, + and this time it was speeding towards him as fast as a sail that + was as flat almost as a board, and looked to him no more than a + thin white cone, could bring it.</p> + + <p>So they were coming, after all, and this wonderful sunset + might be his last indeed;—and all the tender beauty of the + fleecy clouds thinned and paled, and the glory faded as though it + had all been but a glorious bubble, and that sharp point of + white, speeding across the darkening sea, had pricked it.</p> + + <p>But why on earth were they coming now? They had missed the + ebb, and it was hours yet to next half-ebb, and they could not + hope to land. The white waves were boiling all along the ledges, + and the sea for twenty feet out was a surging dapple of foam + laced with seething white bubbles. It would be more than any + man's life was worth to try and get ashore on L'Etat for many an + hour yet.</p> + + <p>And there was only one boat! What had become of all the + others—of the threatened invasion in force? He sat and + watched it in gloomy wonder.</p> + + <p>The boat came racing on. As she cleared Brenière her + white sail turned to red gold, and the sea below grew purple. + There was something white in her bows. He got up heavily, + doggedly, forced to it against his will, and walked along the + ridge to the eastern point which commanded the landing-place on + that side.</p> + + <p>There was, without doubt, something white in the bows of the + boat, and as he stood gazing at it, it took, to his dazed + imagination, the strange form of Nance waving joyful hands to + him.</p> + + <p>He drew his hands across his eyes. The storm had been sore on + them.</p> + + <p>The bristling waves of the Race burst in sheets of spray under + the glancing bows, but the white spray and the white figure and + the pointed white sail were all ablaze in the last rays of the + sun, and they all swam before him as if his head was going + round.</p> + + <p>She came round Quette d'Amont with a fine sweep, like one + bound on business of which she had no reason to be ashamed, and + dropped her sail and lay in the shelter of the rock.</p> + + <p>And the white figure in the bows was truly Nance, and she was + standing and waving and calling to him. And the grey-headed man + aft was surely Philip Guille, the Sénéchal, and the + faces of the rest were all friendly.</p> + + <p>He stumbled hastily down to the lower ledges, but the rush and + the roar there drowned their voices.</p> + + <p>What were they trying to tell him? What could they want of + him?</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal was standing, hands to mouth, + waiting his chance. The restless waters below drew back for a + moment to gather for a leap, and the big voice came booming + across the tumult—</p> + + <p>"Jump! We'll pick you up! All is well!"</p> + + <p>And Gard, without a moment's hesitation, sprang out into the + marbled foam, and struck out for the boat.</p> + + <p>They were all friendly hands that gripped him and hauled him + over the side, and patted him on the back to get the water out of + him—all friendly faces that were turned to him; and the + dearest face of all, lighted with a heavenly gladness, was to him + as the face of an angel.</p> + + <p>"Tell me!" he gasped, still all astream, wits and clothes + alike. And it was the Sénéchal who told him.</p> + + <p>"Peter Mauger was killed last night, at the same place as Tom + Hamon, and in the same way. So these hot-blooded thickheads are + convinced at last that it wasn't your work."</p> + + <p>"Peter Mauger!" he said, gazing vaguely at them all. "But + who—"</p> + + <p>"We haven't found out yet. But even the thickest of the + thickheads can't put it down to you"—and the thickheads + present grinned in friendly fashion, and they ran up the sail + with a will, and turned her nose, and went racing back to the + Creux quicker than they had come.</p> + + <p>And Gard sat still with his hand in Nance's two, feeling very + weak and shaky, and looked vaguely back at L'Etat as it faded and + dwindled into a dim black triangle of rock.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER + XXXVI</h2> + + <h3>HOW HE CAME HOME FROM L'ETAT</h3> + + <p>This is what had happened.</p> + + <p>Since Tom Hamon's death, his friend Peter and his widow Julie + had, as we know, found themselves drawn together by a common + detestation of Stephen Gard and a common desire for his + extinction.</p> + + <p>For Peter considered he had been supplanted in Nance's + regards, though Nance had never regarded him as anything but a + nuisance and a boor. And Julie considered herself scorned and + slighted, though Gard had never considered her save as Tom + Hamon's wife.</p> + + <p>It was they who had stirred up the Sark men against Gard, and + they missed no opportunity of keeping their ill brew on the + boil.</p> + + <p>Their offensive alliance brought them much together. Peter was + often at La Closerie. He was like wax in the hands of the fiery + Frenchwoman, and she moulded him to her will. The neighbours + might have begun to talk, but that it was obvious to all that the + only bond between them at present was their ill-will towards + Gard, and in that feeling many shared and found nothing strange + in Tom's wife and Tom's chief friend joining hands to make some + one pay for his death.</p> + + <p>In time, if it had gone on, the neighbours would doubtless + have had plenty to say on the subject, for old wives' tongues + rattled fast of a winter's evening, when they all gathered in + this house or that, and sat on the sides of the green bed with + their feet in the dry fern inside, and the oil crasset hanging + down in the midst, and plied their needles and their tongues and + wits all at once, and wrought scandalously good guernseys and + stockings in spite of it all.</p> + + <p>But these were summer evenings yet, and the <i>veilles</i> had not + begun, and reputations were out at grass till the time came round + for their inspection and judgment.</p> + + <p>And so, when Peter Mauger never reached home the night before + this day of which we are telling, his old housekeeper, whatever + she thought about it at the time, only said afterwards that she + supposed he had stopped somewhere and would turn up all right in + the morning, though she admitted that he was not in the habit of + staying out of a night. Anyway, she was an old woman and all + alone, and she was not going out to look for him at that time of + night.</p> + + <p>The morning surprised her by his continued absence. Never in + his life, so far as she knew, had he behaved like this before. + Vituperation of him gave place to anxiety about him.</p> + + <p>She questioned the neighbours. All they knew was that he had + been seen going down to Little Sark soon after sunset.</p> + + <p>"That black Frenchwoman of Tom Hamon's twists him round her + finger," said one.</p> + + <p>"You tie him up, Mrs. Guille," chuckled another, "or sure as + beans she'll steal him from you and leave you in the cold."</p> + + <p>And then, who should they see coming striding along the road + but Madame Julie herself, and evidently in a hurry;—in a + state of red-hot excitement, too, as she drew near. And they + waited, hands on hips, to hear what she was up to now.</p> + + <p>"Where's Peter?" she demanded, a long way in advance. "Tell + him I want him. That man Gard is still on L'Etat, though those + fools who went across for him couldn't find him. Cré nom! + What are you all staring at, then?"</p> + + <p>"Where's our Peter?" demanded Mrs. Guille shrilly, with the + strident note of fear in her voice, as she becked and bobbed + towards the Frenchwoman like an aged cormorant.</p> + + <p>"Peter? I'm asking you. I want him. Where is he?"</p> + + <p>"He went to Little Sark last night, and he's never come + home."</p> + + <p>"Never come home? Why, what's taken him? If he'd been with me + last night he'd have seen something! That Nance Hamon swam across + to the rock with nothing on but her shift to take food to Gard, + and I caught her at it—the shameless hussy!"</p> + + <p>"Maybe Peter's heard of it an' gone across with 'em again," + suggested one. "He was terrible hot against Gard."</p> + + <p>"And reason he had to be hot against him," cried Julie. + "Who'll find out for me where he's got to, and when they're going + out after Gard? I would go too and see the end of him."</p> + + <p>A couple of burly husbands came rolling round the corner + towards their breakfasts and caught her words.</p> + + <p>"Doubt you'll have to go alone, mistress," said one, + phlegmatically. "There's ghosts on L'Etat, they do say, though + sure the one John Drillot brought across was dead enough."</p> + + <p>"If he's there," said the other, plumbing Julie's feelings, + "he's safe as a pig in a pen."</p> + + <p>"Where's our Peter?" demanded Mrs. Guille.</p> + + <p>"Peter? I d'n know. What's come of him?" and they stared + blankly at her.</p> + + <p>"He went to Little Sark last night to see her"—with a + beck of distaste towards Julie—"and he's never come + home."</p> + + <p>The men looked from the speaker to Julie, as though the next + word necessarily lay with her.</p> + + <p>"I never set eyes on him. I was out after that girl. I came + here to tell him about Gard. Has he been to the harbour?"</p> + + <p>"No, he hasn't. We are from there now."</p> + + <p>"He's maybe with some of them arranging about going to + L'Etat," said Julie. "I'll go and find out;" and she set off + along the road past the windmill.</p> + + <p>The morning passed in fruitless enquiries. She asked this one + and that, every one she could think of, if they had seen Peter, + and was met everywhere with meaning grins and point-blank + denials. Apparently no one had set eyes on Peter, and every one + seemed to imply that she ought io know more about him than any + one else.</p> + + <p>It was past mid-day before she was back at Vauroque, but Mrs. + Guilie was still standing in the doorway of Peter's empty house + as if she had been looking out for news of him ever since.</p> + + <p>"Eh b'en? Have you found him?" she cried.</p> + + <p>"Not a finger of him!" snapped Julie savagely, tired out with + her fruitless labours.</p> + + <p>"Then he's come to some ill, bà sú. And if he + has—ma fé, it's you!—it's you!" The old lady's + scream of denunciation choked itself with its own excess, and the + neighbours came running out to learn the news.</p> + + <p>Stolid minds travel in grooves, and old Mrs. Guille's had been + groping along possibilities of all kinds, clinging at the same + time to the hope that Peter would still turn up all right.</p> + + <p>Now that her hope was shattered her mind dropped naturally + into a grim groove, along which it had taken a tentative trip + during the morning and had recoiled from with a shudder.</p> + + <p>The last time Mrs. Tom Hamon had come seeking a man who was + missing, that man had been found under the Coupée, and so + old Mrs. Guille set oft for the Coupée as fast as her old + legs and her want of breath and general agitation would let + her.</p> + + <p>"Nom de Dieu! What—?" began Julie, with twisted black + brows, and then drifted on with the rest in Mrs. Guille's + wake—all except one or two housewives whose men were due + for dinner, and knew they must be fed whatever had come to Peter + Mauger.</p> + + <p>"Gaderabotin!" said one of these as he came up, and stood + scratching his head and gazing down the road after them. "What's + taken them all?"</p> + + <p>"Think because they found Tom Hamon there, they'll find Peter + too," guffawed another, and they rolled on into their homes, + chuckling at the simplicity of women and children.</p> + + <p>Arrived at the Coupée, the little mob of + sensation-seekers peered fearfully about. One small boy, cleverer + or more groovy-minded than the rest, struck off along the + headland to the left. It was from there Charles Guille had seen + Tom Hamon. Perhaps from there he would see something, too.</p> + + <p>And no sooner was he there, where he could see to the foot of + the cliffs in Coupée Bay, than he commenced to dance and + wave his arms like a mad thing, because the words he wanted to + shout choked him tight so that he could hardly breathe.</p> + + <p>They streamed out along the cliff and huddled there, struck + chill with fright in spite of the blazing sun.</p> + + <p>For there, under the cliff, in the same spot as they found Tom + Hamon, lay another dark, huddled figure, and they knew it must be + Peter.</p> + + <p>The finding of Tom had filled them with anger against Gard. + The finding of Peter filled them with fear.</p> + + <p>Gard had sufficed as explanation and scapegoat for Tom's + death, and as vent for their feelings. But what of Peter's?</p> + + <p>It had not been Gard, then? And if not Gard, who?</p> + + <p>For, whoever it was, he was still at large, and any of them + might be the next.</p> + + <p>There were new terrors in the eyes that gazed so wildly on the + narrow white path and the towering pinnacles of the + Coupée. They had been familiar with it all, all their + lives, but suddenly it had become strange to them.</p> + + <p>If grisly Death, all bones and scythe, had come stalking along + it before their eyes at that moment, they would have shrieked, no + doubt, and fallen flat, but he would have no more than answered + to their feelings and fulfilled their expectations.</p> + + <p>As it was, when the Seigneur's big white stallion stuck his + head over the green dyke behind them, and gave a shrill neigh at + the unexpected sight of so many people in a field which was + usually occupied only by Charles Guille's two mild-eyed cows and + their calves, the women screamed and the children lied.</p> + + <p>"Man doux! but I thought it was the devil himself," said old + Mrs. Guille. "Oui-gia!" and shook an angry fist at him.</p> + + <p>But the discoverer of the body was already away along the road + to Vauroque, covering the ground like a little incarnation of + ill-news.</p> + + <p>The exertion of running cleared away the choking, if it took + his breath. He shouted as he drew near the houses.</p> + + <p>"Ah, bah!" growled one of the diners inside. "What's to do + now, then?"</p> + + <p>"He's there ... Peter ... under Coupée ... Where Tom + Hamon...." panted the news-bearer as he tore past to his own + home. And the rest of Vauroque emptied itself into the road and + stood looking along it, as the stragglers came up, white-faced + and wild-eyed.</p> + + <p>"He's there," confirmed one woman, twisting up her loosened + hair. "And just same place where Tom Hamon lay."</p> + + <p>"'Tweren't Gard killed <i>him</i>, then," said one of the diners, + chewing over that thought with his last mouthful.</p> + + <p>"Nor Tom neither, then, maybe," said another.</p> + + <p>"We've bin on wrong tack, then;" and they went off round the + corner at a speed their build would hardly have credited them + with.</p> + + <p>One to the Sénéchal and one to the Doctor, and + then to the Creux, both telling the news as they went. So that + when the officials came hurrying through the tunnel the greater + part of the Island was waiting for them on the shingle, except + those who preferred the wider view from the cliff above.</p> + + <p>Some of the men had been for pulling across at once, but they + were overborne.</p> + + <p>"Doctor said he'd like to have seen him afore he was moved + last time," said old John de Carteret weightily, and would not + let a boat go out till the Doctor and the Sénéchal + came.</p> + + <p>It was all waiting for them the moment they arrived, however, + and they stepped in and swung away round Les Lâches, and + three other boats followed them so closely that it looked almost + like a gruesome race who should get there first.</p> + + <p>There was little talking in any of the boats, but there was + some solid hard thinking, in a mazed kind of way.</p> + + <p>Until they knew more of the facts, indeed, they scarce knew + what to think yet. But more than one of them remembered + disturbedly how they had gone in force two days before to fetch + Gard off his lonely rock, or to make an end of him there; and + here they were going in force on a very different errand—an + errand which, they could not help seeing, would bring him off his + rock in a very different way, if this present matter was what it + looked as if it might be.</p> + + <p>And the Doctor was not long in giving them the facts, when + they had run up on to the shingle, and then crunched through it + to the place where Peter's body lay under the steep black + cliff—in the exact spot where Tom Hamon's had lain just + eighteen days before.</p> + + <p>But that it was undoubtedly Peter's face and body, those who + had come after Tom the last time might have thought they were + going through their previous experience over again. It was all so + like.</p> + + <p>They all stood round in a dark, silent group while the Doctor + carefully examined the body, and the Sénéchal + looked on with stern and troubled face.</p> + + <p>"It is most extraordinary," said the Doctor, straightening up + from his task at last, and his face, too, was knitted with + perplexity, but had something else in it besides. "This man has + been done to death in exactly the same way as Hamon"—a + rustle of surprise shook the group of silent onlookers. "The head + has been beaten in just as Hamon's was—with some blunt + rounded tool, I should say. These other wounds and contusions are + the results of his fall down the cliff. He has been dead at least + eight hours. Lift him carefully, men. We can do nothing more + here—unless by chance the one who did it flung his weapon + after him, and we could find it."</p> + + <p>They scattered, and searched the whole dark bay minutely, but + found nothing. Then with rough gentleness they bore the body to + the boat and laid it under the thwarts.</p> + + <p>"Men!" said the Sénéchal weightily, as they were + just about to climb back into their boats. "This matter brings + another matter home to all our hearts. You have been persecuting + another man under the belief that he killed Tom Hamon. From what + some of us knew of Mr. Gard, we were certain he could have had no + hand in it. This, I take it, proves it?" He looked at the + Doctor.</p> + + <p>"Undoubtedly!" nodded the Doctor. "The man who killed this one + killed the other, and that man could not be Stephen Gard, for he + is on L'Etat."</p> + + <p>"It's God's mercy that you haven't Mr. Gard's blood on your + heads. Some of you, I know, have done your best that way. Suppose + you had killed him that other night—what would you have + felt as you stood here to-day? Take that thought home with you, + and may God keep you from like misjudgment in the future!"</p> + + <p>And they had not a word to say for themselves, but crawled + silently aboard, and in silence pulled back to Creux Harbour.</p> + + <p>Once only old John de Carteret spoke to the + Sénéchal, soon after they had started.</p> + + <p>"One of them"—nodding over at the boats + behind—"could go to the rock and bring him off," he + suggested.</p> + + <p>"I thought of that, but there's one I want to go with me. + She'll be down at the Creux, I expect, and we'll go as soon as + we've disposed of this."</p> + + <p>There was a very different feeling visible in the silent crowd + that awaited them at the harbour this time from that manifested + on the last occasion, Then, it was a sympathetic anger that + united them all in a common feeling against the perpetrator of + the deed. Now—even before the whisper had run round that + Peter Mauger had been done to death in the same way as Tom + Hamon—fear was among them, and doubt. Fear of they knew not + exactly what, and doubt of they knew not whom.</p> + + <p>But here were two men done to death in their midst, and the + man on whom all their suspicions had settled in the first case + could not possibly have had anything to do with the second, and + so had most likely had nothing to do with either—in which + case the man who had was still at large among them, and no man's + life was safe, much less any woman's or child's.</p> + + <p>Their thoughts did not run, perhaps, quite so clearly as that, + but that was the result of it all, and their faces showed it. + Furthermore, every man and woman there began at once to cast + about in his and her mind for the possible murderer, and men + looked at the neighbours whom they had known all their lives, + with lurking suspicions in their eyes and the consideration of + strange possibilities in their minds.</p> + + <p>Tom Hamon's death had bound them closer together; Peter + Mauger's set them all apart. The strange dead man up in the + school-house added to their discomfort.</p> + + <p>It was not until the hastily-constructed litter with its + gruesome burden had been sent off to the Boys' School, in charge + of the constables and the Doctor, that the Sénéchal + caught sight of Nance's eager white face and anxious eyes, in the + crowd that lingered still in answer to another whisper that had + flown round.</p> + + <p>If they were at once pig-headed and hot-blooded and + suspicious, they were also warm-hearted and willing to atone for + a mistake—once they were sure of it.</p> + + <p>No crowd followed Peter on his last journey but one, though + the whole Island had swarmed after Tom Hamon.</p> + + <p>They wanted to see the man who would have been killed for + killing Tom, though he didn't do it, but for—circumstances, + and his own pluck and endurance.</p> + + <p>And when the Sénéchal beckoned to one of the + circumstances, and put his hand on her slim shoulder, and + said—</p> + + <p>"We are going for him. I thought you would like to come too," + her face went rosy with gratitude, and the brave little hands + clasped up on to her breast, as she murmured—</p> + + <p>"Oh, M. le Sénéchal!" and choked at anything + more.</p> + + <p>Those nearest gave her rough words of encouragement.</p> + + <p>"Cheer up, Nance! You'll soon have him back!"</p> + + <p>"That's a brave garche! Don't cry about it now!"</p> + + <p>"We'll make it up to him, lass. We'll all come and dance at + the wedding"—and so on.</p> + + <p>But the Sénéchal patted her on the shoulder and + asked—</p> + + <p>"And where is your brother? He should come, too. I hear you + have both been in this matter."</p> + + <p>"Ah, monsieur!" she said, with brimming eyes and a pathetic + little lift and fall of the hand, which expressed far more than + she could put into words. "We fear ... we fear he is drowned. He + swam out to the rock taking food, and ... and ... we have not + seen him since;" and her hand was over her face and the tears + streaming through.</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! Another!" said the Sénéchal, aghast. + "When, child? When was this?"</p> + + <p>"The night after the storm, monsieur."</p> + + <p>"Perhaps he is there, on the rock."</p> + + <p>"No, monsieur. I was over there myself last night. He never + got there, and we fear he must be drowned."</p> + + <p>"You were over there, child? Why, how did you get across?"</p> + + <p>"I swam, monsieur;" and he stared at her in amazement.</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! You make up for some of the others," he + said bluntly. "Come then, and we will make sure of this one, + anyhow;" and he led the way to John de Carteret's boat, and all + the people gave them a cheer as they pulled out of the harbour to + catch the breeze off the Lâches.</p> + + <p>Then the crowd waited for their return, and talked by snatches + of all these strange happenings, and discussed and discounted the + chances of Bernel's being still alive.</p> + + <p>"For, see you, the Race! And that was the first night after + the storm, and it would be running like the deuce, bidemme!" + "It's best not to know how to swim if it leads you to do things + like that, oui-gia!" "When a man's time comes, he cuts his cleft + in the water, whether he can swim or not, crais b'en!" "And that + slip of a Nance had been over there last night—par + madé, some folks have the courage!" "All the same, it was + madness—"</p> + + <p>But behind all the broken chatter, in every mind was the grim + question, "Who is it, then, that is doing these things amongst + us?" And there was a feeling of mighty discomfort abroad.</p> + + <p>All the same, they cheered vigorously as the boat came + speeding back, and they saw Gard sitting between Nance and the + Sénéchal, and crowded round as it ran up the + shingle, and would have lifted him out and carried him + shoulder-high through the tunnel and up the road, if he would + have had it.</p> + + <p>They saw how his imprisonment on the rock—"Ma fé, + think of it!—all through that storm, too!"—had told + upon him. His cheeks were hollow, and his eyes sunken, and he + looked very weary—"and, man doux, no wonder, after eighteen + days on L'Etat!"—though their friendly shouts had put a + touch of colour in his face and a spark in his eyes for the + moment.</p> + + <p>"Now, away home, all of you!" ordered the + Sénéchal. "We've all had enough to think about for + one day. To-morrow we will see what is to be done."</p> + + <p>"Too much!" croaked one old crone, who had something of a + reputation among her neighbours. "What I want to know + is—who killed Peter Mauger?"</p> + + <p>And that was the question that occupied most minds in Sark + that night.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER + XXXVII</h2> + + <h3>HOW THEY LAID TRAPS FOR THE DEVIL</h3> + + <p>The Doctor insisted on taking care of Gard. He took him into + his own house at Dixcart, and began at once a course of treatment + based on common-sense and the then most scientific attainment, + and calculated to repair the waste of the Rock and build him up + anew in the shortest time compatible with an efficient and + permanent cure.</p> + + <p>Even when Gard felt quite himself again and would have + returned to his work, the genial autocrat would not hear of + it.</p> + + <p>"Just you stop here, my boy," he ordered. "An experience such + as you have had needs some getting over. You can stand a good + rest and some fattening up, and those —— mines must + wait."</p> + + <p>Meanwhile, the Island was in a smoulder of suspicion and + superstition.</p> + + <p>No one had yet ventured openly to point the finger at any + reasonably possible doer of deeds so dark. Behind carefully + closed doors of a night, indeed, here and there a whisper + suggested that the Frenchwoman might be at the bottom of it all. + But the mistake that had already been made, and the consequences + that came so terribly near to completing it beyond repair, made + them all cautious of open speech or action.</p> + + <p>Gard's story explained the mystery of the dead stranger and + relieved the public mind to that extent.</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal was disposed to agree with his + views on the matter.</p> + + <p>"I never heard of those caves on L'Etat," he said musingly, as + they sat over their pipes one night; "and I'm sure no one else + knew of them. But there was much free-trading round here in the + old times, and I've no doubt many a Customs man disappeared and + was never heard of again, just like this one. All the Islands + felt very sore about the new regulations, and our people stick at + nothing when their blood is up."</p> + + <p>"They do not," said Gard feelingly.</p> + + <p>"I'd like to get into that inner cave," said the Doctor + longingly.</p> + + <p>"You couldn't," said Gard, looking at his size and girth. + "It's a mighty tight squeeze under the slab, and that tunnel + would beat you. Unless you've been brought up to that kind of + thing, you couldn't stand it. It would give you nightmares for + the rest of your life."</p> + + <p>"That's a rare lass, that little Nance," said the + Sénéchal. "There's some good in Sark after all, Mr. + Gard."</p> + + <p>"She was an angel to me," said Gard with feeling. "If it had + not been for her, I could never have held out. Not for what she + brought me, but the fact that she came. But it was terrible to me + to think of her coming through that Race. I begged her not to, + but she would have her way. Three times she risked her life for + me—"</p> + + <p>"Three times!" said the Sénéchal. "Ma fé, + but she's a garche to be proud of!"</p> + + <p>"Ay, and to be more than proud of," said Gard. "She has given + me my life, and I will give it all to making her happy."</p> + + <p>"I wouldn't swim across to L'Etat for any woman in the world," + said the Doctor. "Because, in the first place, I couldn't. She + must have nerves of steel, to say nothing of muscles. In the + dark, too! And you wouldn't think it to look at her."</p> + + <p>"It needed more than nerves or muscles," said Gard + quietly.</p> + + <p>Not a man among the Islanders—much less a + woman—would go anywhere near the Coupée after dark. + Even Nance confessed to a preference for daylight passages. And + Gard, when he went down into Little Sark for a walk, as part of + his cure, could not repress a cold shiver whenever he passed the + fatal spot where two men had gone over to their deaths.</p> + + <p>All the old wives' tales were dug up and passed along, growing + as they went. Little eyes and mouths grew permanently rounded + with horrors, and the ground was thoroughly well spaded and + planted with sturdy shoots warranted to yield a noisome harvest + of superstition for generations to come.</p> + + <p>The occupants of Clos Bourel and Plaisance carefully locked + their doors of a night now.</p> + + <p>Old Mrs. Carré at Plaisance vowed she had heard the + White Horses go past, on the nights before Tom Hamon and Peter + were found. And every one knew that when the ghostly horses were + heard, some one was going to die. But as she had said nothing + about it before, her contribution to the general uneasiness was + received with respect before her face but with open doubt behind + her back.</p> + + <p>Old Nikki Never-mind-his-name—lest his descendants, if + he had any, take umbrage at the matter—swore that he had + not only seen the ghostly steed pass Vauroque in the dead of + night, but that it bore a rider whose head was carried carefully + in his right hand. Unfortunately, the headless one passed so + quickly that Nikki said he could not distinguish his + features—having looked for them first in the wrong + place—and so he could not say for certain who the next to + die would be; but from the knowing wag of his head the neighbours + were of opinion that he knew more than he chose to tell, and he + gained quite a reputation thereby.</p> + + <p>But, even here again, doubts were cast upon the matter by + some, especially those who were acquainted with the old + gentleman's proclivities towards raw spirits of the material kind + that paid the lightest of duties in Guernsey.</p> + + <p>All these and very many similar matters were discussed by the + Doctor—who disturbed their minds with horrific accounts of + homicidal mania taking possession of apparently innocent + souls—and the Sénéchal and the Vicar and + Stephen Gard, as they sat over their pipes of an evening in the + Doctor's house. But chiefly the great and troublesome question of + "Who?"</p> + + <p>They were all of one mind that the matter must be looked into. + The feeling that a danger was loose in the Island, and might at + any moment fall upon any man, woman, or child, was past + endurance. The suspicion that It might be any one of those they + met every day was insufferable.</p> + + <p>The only difficulty was to decide how to look into + it—what to do, and how.</p> + + <p>Each day they feared to hear of some new outrage. But until + the perpetrator was discovered they could do nothing towards his + suppression. And, on the other hand, it looked as though they + could do nothing towards his discovery until he perpetrated some + new outrage.</p> + + <p>It was Gard who suggested they should watch the Coupée + every night, armed, and unknown to any but themselves.</p> + + <p>And, after much discussion, following out his idea, he and the + Sénéchal and the Doctor, who could bowl over a + rabbit as well as any of them, lay in the heather, on the common + above the cutting on the Little Sark side, for many nights, guns + in hand, and eyes and ears on the strain, but saw and heard + nothing.</p> + + <p>One night, indeed, when there was a high wind, the Doctor's + marrow crawled in his backbone at the sound of groanings and + moanings and most dolorous cries for help, coming up out of black + Coupée Bay, where they had picked up Tom Hamon's and Peter + Mauger's dead bodies.</p> + + <p>He sweated cold terrors, for he was on the east headland right + above the bay, till the Sénéchal crawled over to + him and whispered—</p> + + <p>"Hear 'em?"</p> + + <p>"Y-y-yes. What the d-d-deuce and all—"</p> + + <p>"Knew you'd wonder what it was—"</p> + + <p>"W-w-wonder?" chittered the Doctor.</p> + + <p>"It's only the wind in the cave at the corner below + here—"</p> + + <p>"Ah! Thought it must be something of that kind," said the + Doctor through his teeth, clenched hard to keep them in order. + "Don't wonder folks fight shy of the Coupée. Sounded + uncommonly like spirits. Might give some folks the jumps."</p> + + <p>On another dark and windy night it was the + Sénéchal's turn to get something of a fright.</p> + + <p>As he lay in the heather, gun in hand, and well wrapped up in + his big cloak, with all his faculties concentrated on the + wavering pathway below, it seemed to him that he heard slow heavy + footsteps approaching.</p> + + <p>His nerves were strung tight. He craned his head to look down + into the cutting, when suddenly there came a wild snuffle at the + back of his neck, and as he jumped up with a startled yelp, one + part anger and nine parts fright, a horse that had grazed down + upon him in the darkness, leaped back with a snort and a squeal + and disappeared into the night.</p> + + <p>"Ga'rabotin! but I thought it was the devil himself," said the + Sénéchal, as the others came hurrying up. "Why the + deuce can't people tie up their horses as they do their cows? + I'll bring it up at the next Chef Plaids"—which + consideration restored his shaken equanimity somewhat, and made + him feel himself again.</p> + + <p>Nothing more came of all their watching, and over a jorum of + something hot one night, after they had returned to the Doctor's + house, it was himself who said—</p> + + <p>"After all, it stands to reason. Some evil-possessed soul + seeks victims, and has fixed on the Coupée as the place + best fitted for his work. No one now goes near the Coupée + at night—ergo, no victims; ergo, no—er—no + manifestations."</p> + + <p>"H'm! Very clever!" said the Sénéchal, through + his pipe. "Where does that leave us, then?"</p> + + <p>"We must have a decoy, of course."</p> + + <p>"H'm! You'll not get any Sark man to act as decoy to the + devil. Besides, they would talk, and that would upset the whole + thing."</p> + + <p>"What about one of your men, Gard?"</p> + + <p>"It's a dangerous game for any man to play, Doctor.... I don't + quite see how one could ask it of them,"—and after a pause + of concentrated thought and many slow smoke-puffs—"What + would you say to me?" and all their eyes settled on him—the + Doctor's professionally.</p> + + <p>"Surely you have suffered enough in this matter, Mr. Gard," + suggested the Vicar.</p> + + <p>"I would give a good deal, and do a good deal, to get to the + bottom of it all. Things will never settle down properly till + this matter is disposed of."</p> + + <p>That, of course, was obvious to them all, but all had the same + feeling that he had already suffered enough in the matter.</p> + + <p>But consideration of the Doctor's suggestion in all its + aspects only served to convince them that, if any such scheme was + to be carried out, it could only be done among themselves, and + its dangers were obvious.</p> + + <p>It was not a matter to be lightly undertaken by any man. For + whoever undertook the rôle of decoy, undoubtedly took his + life in his hands; and they spent many evenings over it.</p> + + <p>The Vicar was absolutely against the idea, but had no + alternative to suggest.</p> + + <p>"It is simply playing with death," said he, "and no man has a + right to do that."</p> + + <p>"It means a good deal for the Island if we can clear it up," + said the Sénéchal.</p> + + <p>But, by degrees, they got to discussion of how it might be + done, and from that to the actual doing was only a heroic + step.</p> + + <p>The decoy's head must be well padded, of course, for the heads + of both victims had been the points of attack.</p> + + <p>He must be well armed also, and being forewarned and more, he + ought to be able to give a certain account of himself.</p> + + <p>And then the Doctor and the Sénéchal would be + close at hand and on the keen look-out for emergencies.</p> + + <p>The Doctor undertook to pad his head with something in the + nature of a turban under his hat, which, he vowed, would resist + the impact of iron blows better than metal itself.</p> + + <p>"Leave my ears loose, anyway," said Gard. "I'd like at all + events to be able to hear it coming."</p> + + <p>The Sénéchal had a weapon, part pistol and the + rest blunderbuss, which had belonged to his father, who had + always referred to it affectionately as his "dunderbush." It had + seen strange doings in its time, but had been so long retired + from the active list, that he undertook to load and fire it + himself before he said any more about it.</p> + + <p>And he did it next day, with a full charge, in his meadow, + with the assistance of a gate-post and a long cord, and reported + it at night as in excellent order, and calculated to blow into + smithereens anything blowable that stood up before it within the + short limit of its range.</p> + + <p>At this stage in its proceedings the Vicar reluctantly retired + from the Committee of Public Safety. He acknowledged the sore + need of ending the suspicious and superstitious fears which were + beginning to affect the life of the community in various ways. + But he could not see his way to any participation in means so + dangerous to the life of one of their number as those + suggested.</p> + + <p>He did his best to dissuade Gard from it. He even reminded him + of the duty he owed to Nance. She had undoubtedly saved his life, + and she had a premier claim upon his consideration—and so + on.</p> + + <p>To all of which Gard fully assented.</p> + + <p>"But," he said gravely, "we are at a deadlock in this other + matter, and it is just barely possible that this plan may clear + it all up. I can't say I'm very sanguine that it will. On the + other hand, I really don't see that any great harm can come to + me. The others probably suffered because they were taken + unawares. I shall go in the hope of meeting it, and shall be + ready for it. Unless, Vicar, you really think it is the devil or + something of that sort?"</p> + + <p>"I don't know what to think," said the Vicar solemnly. "I + cannot bring myself to believe any of our Sark men would do such + dreadful things. I look at each man I meet and say to myself, + 'Now, can it be possible it is you?—or you?—or + you?'—and it does not seem possible; and yet—"</p> + + <p>"And yet some one did it, Vicar," said the Doctor, brusquely, + "and that's just the trouble. Until we find out <i>who</i> did it, any + man may have done it, and we all look at everybody else, just as + you do, and say to ourselves, 'Is it you?—or you?—or + you?' Though I'm bound to say I've not got the length yet of + doubting either you or the Sénéchal, or Gard, and I + don't think it's myself. It might quite conceivably be any one of + us, however, prowling about in our sleep and utterly unconscious + afterwards of evil-doing."</p> + + <p>"A most awful possibility," said the Vicar. "God grant it may + turn out differently from that."</p> + + <p>"You never know what this inexplicable machine may do," said + the Doctor, tapping his head. "However, we'll hope for the best, + and I think the Sénéchal and I ought to be able to + see Gard through without any very disastrous results. If we + succeed, he will deserve better of this Island than any man I + know—and a sight more than this Island deserves of him. I + quite understand," he said, as Gard looked quickly up. "And it + does you credit, my boy; but there are not very many men would do + it."</p> + + <p>"Well, I'm afraid I must leave you to it," said the Vicar, and + did so.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER + XXXVIII</h2> + + <h3>HOW THEY LAID THE DEVIL BY THE HEELS</h3> + + <p>When it began to be noised abroad that Gard was going to and + fro across the Coupée, even by night, as if nothing had + ever happened there, the Sark men shrugged their shoulders and + said, "Pardie!—sooner him than me—oui-gia!"</p> + + <p>It was obviously necessary, however, that this should be + known. Even the cormorant does not fish where fish are never + found.</p> + + <p>But when he went to and fro by night, he went + mailed—according to the Doctor's ideas—and + armed—according to the Sénéchal's; and each + night the Doctor and the Sénéchal went quietly + down, some time in advance, and lay hidden on the headlands with + their guns, and never took their eyes off him and all his + surroundings, while he was in sight.</p> + + <p>And Gard, in nearing the Little Sark cutting, always kept + carefully to the right-hand side of the path, though it was + somewhat crumbly there and had fallen away down the slope towards + Grande Grève. For he had gone cautiously over the ground + beforehand, and decided that if there was any possibility of + being knocked overboard unawares, he would prefer to go over the + much gentler slope on the right, where one might even at a pinch + find lodgment among the rubble and bushes, than over the sheer + fall into Coupée Bay, where you could drop a stone almost + to the shingle below.</p> + + <p>Nance knew nothing whatever of the matter, or she would + undoubtedly and most reasonably have had something to say about + it. But knowledge of it could only upset her, and so perhaps + himself, and he had carefully kept it from her. Little Sark, + moreover, was more isolated than ever by reason of the + Coupée mystery, and word of his goings and + comings—save such as had La Closerie for their object in + the day-time—never reached her.</p> + + <p>They were in grievous sorrow down there over Bernel. Gard + still preached hope, but each day's delay in its realisation + seemed to them to make it the more unlikely, and their hearts + were very sore.</p> + + <p>Julie had gone about her work for days after Gard's return + like a bereft tigress. Then one morning she locked the door of + her house, put the key in her pocket, and took the cutter for + Guernsey; and none regretted her going.</p> + + <p>And, as it turned out, though that had not been her intention + at the time, it was the last Sark was to see of her. Rumours + reached them later of her marriage to a fellow-countryman, with + whom she had gone to France. The one thing they knew for certain + was that she never came back to La Closerie, and after due + interval, and consequent on other matters, they broke open the + door and resumed possession of the house.</p> + + <p>Night after night Gard slowly crossed the Coupée, + lingered in its shadows, went on into Little Sark, and came + lingering back.</p> + + <p>And night after night the Doctor and the + Sénéchal lay in the heather of the headlands, guns + in hand, waiting for something that never came, and then going + stiffly home to one or other of their houses, to lubricate their + joints and console their disappointment with hot punch and much + tobacco.</p> + + <p>"I'm afraid it's no go," was the Doctor's grudging verdict at + last, on the fourteenth blank night.</p> + + <p>"Let's keep on," said Gard. "Things generally happen just when + you don't expect them."</p> + + <p>"That's so," grunted the Sénéchal. And they + decided to keep on.</p> + + <p>Fortunately, the nights were warm and mostly fine. When + neither moon nor stars afforded him light enough for a safe + crossing, he took a lantern, so that no one who desired to knock + him on the head need miss the chance for lack of seeing him.</p> + + <p>And when, after their lonely waiting, the watchers in the + heather saw the lantern come joggling down the steep cutting from + Sark, they braced themselves for eventualities, and hefted their + guns, and pricked up their ears and made ready.</p> + + <p>And when it had wavered slowly along the path between the + great pits of darkness on either hand, and had gone joggling on + into Little Sark, they sank back into their formes with each his + own particular exclamation, and lay waiting till the light came + back.</p> + + <p>Times of tension and endurance which told upon them all, but + bore most heavily on Gard, since the onslaught, when it came, + must fall upon him, and the absolute ignorance as to how and when + and whence it might come, kept every nerve within him strung like + a fiddle-string.</p> + + <p>It was the eeriest experience he had ever had, that nightly + trip across the Coupée;—bad enough when moon or + stars afforded him vague and distorted glimpses of his ghostly + surroundings:—ten times worse when the flicker of his + lantern barely kept him to the path, and the broken gleams ran + over the rugged edges and tumbled into the black gulfs at the + sides;—when every starting shadow might be a murderer + leaping out upon him, every foot of the walling darkness the + murderer's cover, and every step he took a step towards + death.</p> + + <p>A trip, I assure you, that not many men would have been + capable of. For it did not by any means end with the + Coupée. When he got to bed of a night, and fell asleep at + last, he was still crossing the Coupée with his joggling + lantern all night long, and suffered things in dreams compared + with which even his actual experiences were but holiday + jaunts.</p> + + <p>And at times these grisly imaginings came back upon him as he + actually walked the narrow path next night, and it was all he + could do to keep his head and not fling the lantern into the + depths of the pit and follow it.</p> + + <p>They were all getting exceedingly weary of the whole business; + indeed, it was getting on all their nerves in a way which + threatened consequences, when, mercifully, the end + came—suddenly, not at all as they had looked for it, quite + outside all their expectation.</p> + + <p>It was one of the shrouded nights. The Doctor and the + Sénéchal, flat in the heather, saw the lantern + issue from the Sark cutting and come joggling towards them. They + heard a snort of surprise behind them, but gave it no special + heed. The Sénéchal grinned briefly at remembrance + of his fright when the beast snuffled down his neck that other + night.</p> + + <p>Then, this is what happened.</p> + + <p>Gard—his lantern in his left hand, and the + Sénéchal's father's "dunderbush" in his + right—his eyes pinching spooks out of every inch of the + black wall about him, and every string at its tightest—had + reached the crumbly bit of path near the Little Sark side, when, + like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky, the black silence of + the cutting vomited uproar—the wild clang and beat of what + sounded, in that hollow space, like the trampling of a thousand + dancing hoofs—shrill neighings and whinnyings and + screamings, all blended into an indescribable and blood-curdling + clamour that gashed the night like an outrage.</p> + + <p>And then, before even he had time to wonder, the great white + stallion was upon him—dancing on its hind legs on that + narrow path like an acrobat, towering above him to twice his own + height, striking savagely down at him with its great front feet, + screaming like a fiend.</p> + + <p>He had no time to think. His left arm and the lantern went up + with the natural instinct of defence. Just one glimpse he + got—and never forgot it—of vicious white eyes and + teeth, flapping red nostrils, wild-flying hair, and huge pawing + feet descending on him, with the dirty white hair splaying out + all round them as they came down. Then his right hand went up + also, and he fired full into all these things. The lantern and + the blunderbuss went spinning into the gulf, the great feet beat + him to the ground, and rose and jabbed down at him with all the + vicious might that lay behind them—the savage white muzzle + shrilling its blood-curdling screams of triumph all the + while—and all this in the space of a second. "Good God!" + cried the Doctor, craning over the eastern bank of the cutting, + but fearful of firing into the turmoil lest he should hit Gard, + so dropped himself bodily over on to the path.</p> + + <p>Then the Sénéchal's Sark eyes saw the great + white head, with its flying veil of hair, as it towered up for + another vicious jab at the fallen man, and he emptied both + barrels of his gun into it.</p> + + <p>A wild scream that shrilled along the night and woke Plaisance + and Clos Bourel and Vauroque, and the great white devil reared to + his fullest with wildly beating forefeet, toppled over backwards, + and disappeared with one hideous thud and a final crash on the + shingle of Coupée Bay.</p> + + <p>It was worse than they had ever dreamed—as bad almost as + some of Gard's own nightmares.</p> + + <p>"Good God! Good God! Good God!" babbled the Doctor, as he + groped in the dark for what might be left of their unfortunate + decoy.</p> + + <p>"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" gasped the + Sénéchal, with catching breath and shaking legs, as + he ran round to join him in the search.</p> + + <p>But there was no sign of Gard.</p> + + <p>"Run, man!—Plaisance—a light!" jerked the + Sénéchal.</p> + + <p>"I can't see," groaned the Doctor.</p> + + <p>"I'll go!" and he set off at the best pace his years and his + shaking legs could compass.</p> + + <p>Plaisance was standing at its doors, trembling still at that + fearsome cry, and wondering if it was, perchance, the last + trump.</p> + + <p>At sight of the panting figure coming up from the + Coupée, it scuttled and banged the doors tight. "Open! + Open, you fools!" cried the Sénéchal, and flung + himself against the first door, while those inside, under the + sure belief that they were keeping out the devil, heaped + themselves against it to prevent him.</p> + + <p>"Dolts! Idiots! Fools!" he cried. "It's me—the + Sénéchal. I want your help!" and at that a man + peeped out from the next door to make sure this was not just + another wile of the devil.</p> + + <p>"A lantern! Quick!" ordered the Sénéchal. "And a + blanket and a rope—and get ready a bed for a wounded man. + Come you with me and help!"</p> + + <p>"Mais, mon Gyu——!" began the man.</p> + + <p>"We've killed the devil, and the Doctor's down there with + him——"</p> + + <p>"But we don't want him here, M. le Sénéchal," + quavered a woman's voice, in terror.</p> + + <p>"Fools! It's Mr. Gard that is hurt. The devil's down in + Coupée Bay, and we've killed him for you."</p> + + <p>"Ah then, Gyu marchi! Here's a blanket—and the + lantern—rope's in barn. You get a bed ready," to the woman, + and they went off towards the Coupée.</p> + + <p>And mighty glad the Doctor was to see them coming. He had + begun to fear the Sénéchal had lost his head and + made a bolt for home.</p> + + <p>He had been sitting under the bank of the cutting as the + surest way of keeping out of one or other of the black gulfs. But + the interval had given him time to recover himself, and he jumped + up at once, all ready for business, and hailed them.</p> + + <p>"Down this side, I think," he said, and they swung the lantern + over the Grande Grève slope below the bit of crumbly + pathway.</p> + + <p>"Le velas!" said Thomas Carré, and handed the lantern + to the Sénéchal, and let himself heavily over the + side, and groped his way down to the motionless form among the + bramble bushes.</p> + + <p>"Pardie, he is dead, I do think!" as he bent over it.</p> + + <p>"Let's see!" said the Doctor's quick voice at his elbow. "Hand + down the light;" and the Sénéchal waited above in + grievous anxiety.</p> + + <p>"Not dead," said the Doctor at last. "Stunned and badly + knocked about. He'll come round. Now, how are we to get him + up?"</p> + + <p>"Here's a blanket—and a rope."</p> + + <p>"Good! The blanket!... So!... Now—gently, my man!... Got + it, Sénéchal? Right! Ease him down on to the path. + That's right! Give me a hand, will you? My legs aren't as limber + as they used to be. Now we'll get him on to a bed and see what + the damage is;" and they set off slowly for Plaisance.</p> + + <p>"My God, Sénéchal! That passed belief! To think + of our never thinking of that infernal brute!" said the Doctor, + as they stumbled slowly along in the joggling light.</p> + + <p>"He was possessed of the devil, without a doubt. That last + scream of his when he got my two bullets—"</p> + + <p>"'T woke us," said Carré. "And we wondered what was up. + What was it, then, monsieur?"</p> + + <p>"That devil of a white stallion of Le Pelley's. It was him + killed Tom Hamon and Peter Mauger, and he tried to kill Mr. Gard. + We've been on this job for weeks past, while you were all + sleeping in your beds."</p> + + <p>"Mon Gyu! and we none of us knew anything about it till we + heard yon scream! And he's dead——"</p> + + <p>"He's dead—unless he's the devil," said the + Sénéchal sententiously.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER + XXXIX</h2> + + <h3>HOW THEY THANKED GOD FOR HIS MERCIES</h3> + + <p>Vast was the wonder of the Sark folk when they heard next day + of that night's doings, and learned who the murderer of the + Coupée was, and how and by whom he had been laid by the + heels.</p> + + <p>The whole Island breathed freely once more, and was + outspokenly grateful to the courage and pertinacity which had + lifted from it the cloud and the reproach.</p> + + <p>Some of them even had the grace to be not a little ashamed of + their previous doings, but ascribed the greater part of the blame + to Tom's widow and Peter Mauger.</p> + + <p>But it was days before Stephen Gard took any interest in the + matter, past or present, or in anything whatsoever.</p> + + <p>The Doctor's pad undoubtedly saved his life, but no amount of + padding could avert entirely the fiendish malignity of those + merciless iron flails.</p> + + <p>He lay unconscious for eight-and-forty hours; and the + Doctor—though he never breathed a word of it, and + prophesied complete recovery with the utmost cheerfulness and + apparent sincerity—had his own grim fears as to what the + effect of the whole hideous event might be on one who had already + suffered such undue strain of mind and body.</p> + + <p>Fortunately, his fears proved groundless. On the third day, + Gard quietly opened his eyes on Nance, who had barely left his + bedside since the Sénéchal went down to La Closerie + himself and brought her back with him to Plaisance.</p> + + <p>"I've been asleep," he said drowsily. "Anything wrong, Nance + dear?" and he tried to sit up, but found his head heavy with cold + water bandages, and a pain about his neck and left shoulder, and + his left arm in splints, and all the rest of him one great aching + bruise.</p> + + <p>"Why—" he murmured, in vast surprise.</p> + + <p>"You're to lie quite still," said Nance dictatorially, with + lifted finger. "And you're not to talk or think till the Doctor + comes."</p> + + <p>"Give me a kiss, then!"—good prima facie evidence, this, + that his brain had suffered no permanent injury.</p> + + <p>"Well, he didn't say anything about that," and she bent over + him and kissed him with a brimming flood of gratitude in her blue + eyes, and he lay quiet for a time.</p> + + <p>"Is it dead?" he asked suddenly, with a reminiscent shudder + which set all his bruises aching.</p> + + <p>"The white horse? Yes, Dieu merci, it's dead! But you're not + to talk or think."</p> + + <p>"Give me another kiss, then!"—from which it was apparent + that he knew very well what kind of medicine was best adapted to + his ailments.</p> + + <p>The Doctor came down to see him the very first thing every + morning, and now he came quietly in, just as Nance had been + administering her latest dose.</p> + + <p>"Ah—ha, nurse! What are you doing to my patient!"</p> + + <p>"I'm only keeping him quiet, sir, as you told me to," said + Nance, with a rosy face.</p> + + <p>"It's the doctor you ought to pay, not the patient. Well, my + boy, how are we this morning? Head aching yet?"</p> + + <p>"It does feel a bit queer. Tell me all about last night, + Doctor!"</p> + + <p>"Ah—ha, yes—last night! Well, you caught the + murderer with a vengeance, my boy—or he caught + you,"—and then, seeing the puzzlement in the tired eyes, he + briefly explained the whole matter.</p> + + <p>"And do you mean it was that awful beast killed the + others?"</p> + + <p>"Without a doubt—and would have killed you in exactly + the same way, and exactly the same place, but for my pads and the + Sénéchal's bullets. Queer thing—they found + the brute lying all in a heap in Coupée Bay on the very + spot where Tom Hamon and Peter Mauger were found."</p> + + <p>"Ay-y-y-y-y!" breathed Gard, with a long sigh of relief and a + shiver. "I shall never forget him."</p> + + <p>"Oh yes, you will—in time. Think of little Nance here. + She's a sight better worth thinking of. And now, Miss Nancy, how + much good news can you stand all at once, if you try your very + hardest?" he asked, with a sparkle in his eyes that somehow + seemed to set hers sparkling too.</p> + + <p>"Oh madé, Doctor!" and the little hands clasped up on + her breast, as was her way when greatly moved. + "Not——?"</p> + + <p>She dared not hope for so much—the wish of her + heart—just an inch or so behind the desire for Gard's + recovery.</p> + + <p>"The cutter this morning brought over one we had feared was + lost——"</p> + + <p>"Not—not Bernel?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, my child, Bernel, by God's good mercy! He was picked up + by a Granville trawler, and lay there ill for some days, and + could only get back by Jersey and Guernsey. He was to come along + with the Sénéchal in a quarter of an + hour—"</p> + + <p>But Nance had fallen on her knees and buried her face in the + bed-clothes, lest any but God should see it in the rapture of its + breaking.</p> + + <p>"Dieu merci! Dieu merci! Dieu merci!" she was crying, though + none of them heard it.</p> + + <p>And "Thank God!" said Stephen Gard with fervour—for + Bernel, and for himself, but most of all for Nance.</p> + + <blockquote><p>NOTE.—The names used in this book are necessarily the + names still current in Sark. None of the characters presented, + however, are in any way connected with any persons now living in + the Island.</p></blockquote> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full"> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MAID OF THE SILVER SEA ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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