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MaTTHEW COULD HEaR the te islands or exposed sandbars so with great difficulty ahead of hiht traveller - a dark,blotch within further darkness - ould have been totally lost to hiht, and even that uarded by the strea clouds

The man had come this way before, that was a certainty and more than once His pace ift and sure-footed, even without benefit of a lantern Mattheas up to the task of following through the waist-high grasses and across the h and laborious journey

They had left Fount Royal far behind Matthew estimated the distance at least a quarter mile from the watchman&039;s tohich had been easily circuh the pinewoods If the watchman had been awake - and this Matthew seriously doubted - he&039;d been looking out to sea Who would expect anyone in their right hti

The ave speed to his step Matthew heard soe and quite sinister, therefore he found a little extra speed himself He discovered in the next moment, however, that his worst enemy was the swamp itself, as he walked into a shallow pond that closed about his knees and al The mud at the pond&039;s bottom seized his shoes and it was only with extreme tenacity that Mattheorked his way to freedoer detect his quarry&039;s ain, but the darkness had truly dropped its curtain

Still, he knew the ain,The sas indeed a treacherous place The ht traveller ate these dangers Indeed, Matthew thought the ned it to memory

after three or four minutes, Mattheas yet unable to spy any lanced back and saw that his course had taken him around a headland a black line of pines and swamp oaks stood between his current position and the watchreater part of a mile behind Beyond hie on Everything out here was only greater and lesser shades of dark, so as the pointi He did continue on a few paces, though, and again paused to scan the horizon Mosquitoes hus croaked in the rushes Of another hu a person out herei This ild desolation, hardly a civilized soul standing between his footprints and the city of Charles Town So what did the ht traveller seek to accomplishi

Matthew looked up at the banners of stars The sky was so huge and the horizon so wide that it was fearso on this coast with the unknoorld at his back, he felt more than a little distress, as if his equilibriued by such immensity He understood at that moment the need for men to build towns and cities and surround them alls - not only to keep out the threat of Indians and wild beasts, but to e to be tamed

His contehts blinked in quick succession

Matthew had been about to turn his face toward Fount Royal again, but now he stood ain, the two lights blinked

What followed next gave his heart a jolt Not fifty yards frohted lantern appeared and was uplifted The lantern swung back and forth, and then disappeared- - concealed, Matthew suspected, by the ht traveller&039;s cloak The man must have either crouched down to strike a match and flame the candle, or done it within the cloak&039;s folds Whatever and however, a signal had been answered

Mattheered hirass, so that just his eyes were above it He desired a closer view, and began to move quietly and carefully tohere the lantern had been revealed It came to mind that if he stepped on a venos would strike a ot to within thirty feet of the dark-cloaked rass ended Theon a stretch of hard-packed sand, just a few yards short of the atlantic&039;s foa, his face aimed toward the ocean and his lantern hidden in the cloak

Matthew also waited Presently, after the passage of perhaps tenwhich the man paced back and forth but never left his station, Mattheare of a shape e from the darkness of the sea Only when it was about to make landfall did Matthew make out an oarboat, painted either black or dark blue There were threeTwo of the men jumped out into the surf and pulled the oarboat to shore

Matthew realized the boat er vessel soht was:Ihave found the Spanish spy

"Greetin&039;s!" the man who had re Spanish as Gravesend was frooes iti"

The ht traveller answered, but his voice was so low Matthew heard only a hta do you Get &039;em out!" He had delivered this coan to unload what appeared to be wooden buckets "Saht traveller, who answered with a nod "You&039;re a ht traveller raised his lantern frolow Matthe his face in profile "a ood habit, " Edward Winston said sternly "Cease this prattle, bury them, and be done with it!" He dropped the lantern, which had been used to show the other ht!" The oarboater reached into the bottoht up two shovels, and then he walked up the beach to the edge of the high grass His path brought him within fifteen feet of Matthew&039;s concealment He stopped at a thatch of spiny palmettos "This where you want &039;e &039;eot all night!" The buckets, which appeared to be sealed, were carried to the designated place The oarboater handed the two shovels to the otherinto the sand

"You knohere a third shovel is, " Winston said "You MIGHT es"

"I ain&039;t no das replied tartly "I&039; to differ You are an Indian, and your chief is Mr Dan-forth I suggest you earn the coin he&039;s paying you"

"Very little coin, sir! Very little, for this night work!"

"The faster they&039;re buried, the sooner you o"

"Well, why bury &039;em anywayi Who the hell&039;s comin&039; out here to find &039;emi"

"Safe is better than sorry Just lay one bucket aside and put the others under with no further argus reached carefully into the palmettos and pulled out a short-handled shovel that had been hidden there Mattheatched as Rawlings fell to digging at rhythm with his companions "What of the witchi" he asked Winston as he worked "When&039;s she gonna hangi"

"Not hang She&039;ll be burned at the stake I expect it shall be within the next few days"

"You&039;ll be cooked too then, won&039;t youi You and Danforth both!"

"Just concern yourself with your digging, " Winston said tersely "You needn&039;t put theht! Work on,in this Satan&039;s country, do wei"

Winston grunted "Here or there, it&039;s all Satan&039;s country, isn&039;t iti" He gave the left side of his neck a sound slap, executing so beastie

It took only a few moments for a hole to be opened, six buckets secreted within it, and the sand shovelled over the to work hard, with all the necessary facial contortions and exertions of breath, but his shovel ht have been a spoon, for all the sand it s stepped back, wiped his broith his forearratulating hi place arinned broadly at Winston, who stood nearby watching in silence "I expect this&039;ll be the last trip, then!"

"I think we should continue one rin collapsed "What need will you have of any more, if she&039;s to be burnedi"

"I&039;ll make a need Tell Mr Danforth I shall be here at the hour"

"as you please, your erated cohed "any other communications to the realmi"

"Our business is concluded" Winston said coldly He picked up by its wire handle the seventh bucket that had been laid aside, and then he abruptly turned toward Mattheho instantly ducked down and pressed hirass

"I&039;ve never seen a burnin&039; before!" Rawlings called after him "Make sure you take it all in, so&039;s you can describe it toHis course, Mattheas relieved to see, took hional line perhaps ten or twelve feet to Matthew&039;s west Then Winston had gone past, holding the lantern low under his cloak to shed so Matthew presuot within view of the watch! I could lay his boasted to his companions after Winston had departed