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The boat drew close to the whaler on the port side, and I saw, as iffrom the former, the faces of severalfrom the other side of the ship and leaned over the bulwarks Itwas evident that they had expected arrival froot close, for the sea was running wilder everyan to climb the ladder and disappearover the bulwark With the extraordinary action of sight and mind andmemory which was to me at present, I followed each and all of thean to raise fro of this one of the to examine each parcel as itcame on board; but he was ever and always repulsed The others would notallow hi Allthis must, under ordinary conditions, have taken much time, but to myspirit-ruled eyes it all passed ondrous rapidity
I beca less clear Thefog see over the sea, as I had seen it earlier in theevening, and to wrap up details froreat expanse of thesea and the ships upon it, and all the wonders of the deep beca darkness I found, quicker and quicker, hts likemy eyes, centred on the deck of the ship At a ed and did not notice hiro, his faceover-much distorted with an evil smile, steal towards the after hatchwayand disappear With the growing of the fog and the dark, I was losingthe power to see through things opaque and ro passed beyond rew; till, in my frantic humanpassion, all that was ethereal around flame
The anguish of my soul, in my fear for my beloved, tore my true spiritout of its phanto life
I foundby thebody of Gorhistled by ryrushes leaped at us by the black shining rocks All was so dark aroundiven inand the gloom I tried to lookat my watch, but could only see the dial diures on it and I feared to light a ht betraymy presence Fortunately my watch could strike the hours and minutes,and I found it was now half past one
o'clock I still, therefore, hadthree-quarters of an hour, for I remembered the lesson of the whaler'schronoGormala's body to the top of the cliff--at present; so I carried her upto the highest point of the underlying rock, which ell above highwater mark
Reverently and with blessing I closed her dead eyes, which still lookedup at the sky with a sort of ghostly curiosity Then I clambered upthe steep pathway and made my way as quickly as I could round to theother side of the Haven, to try if I could discover any trace of theblackmailers, or any indication of the water-cave in which their boatwas hidden The cliffs here are wofully steep, and hang far over thesea; so that there is no possibility of lying on the cliff edge andpeering over Round here also the stark steepness forbids the existenceof even the tiniest track; a hare could not find its way along thesebeetling cliffs The only way ofsearch of this channel would beto follow round in a boat The nearest point to procure one would be atthe little harbour beside the Bullers O'Buchan, and for this there wasnot tiedwith a sickening force for the presence of Montgomery or some of ourparty ould kno to deal with such a situation I was notanxious for the present ainst the ti Well I knew that the vision I hadseen with the eyes of the dead Gormala was no ht be, but a grim picture of ould be There was never a doubt in my mind as to its accuracy Oh! ifI could have seen eredbut a few instants longer! For with the speed at which things hadpassed before ht haveret, andcursed h themedium of the dead woman's spiritual eyes the truths that were to beborne in mind!
But it was of no use to fret; action of some sort would be necessary ifMarjory was to be saved In one way I et out to the whaler unknown to her crew I knew Icould e this, for anyhow I could swim; for a weapon which the watercould not render useless I had the dagger I had taken froht be able to layhands on them in the cabin next Marjory's, where the red-bearded o in search ofsome of my comrades, or to wait the arrival of the Don, as to beback within an hour of the ti to makeup my mind when the difficulty was settled for me by the arrival of theSpaniard, acco American naval officers
When I told them of my vision I could see, even in the darkness whichprevailed, that neither of them was content to accept its accuracyin blind faith I was at first impatient; but this wore ahen Iree of ht, or indeed of the phenomenon at all Neither inSpain nor America does such a belief prevail; and I have no doubt thatto both of them came the idea that worry and anxiety had turned mybrain Even when I told theout beyond the Dunbuy Rock in time to reach the ship before the boatwould arrive, they were not convinced The method of reception of theidea by each was, however, characteristic of his race and nation Tothe high-bred Spaniard, whose life had been ruled by laws of honour andof individual responsibility, no act done in the cause of chivalry couldbe other than worthy; he did not question the sanity of the keeping ofsuch a purpose The practical Ato s in the course of honourand duty, looked at the step which would have the best result with regard to the girl ere all trying to save Whilst the Spaniard raised his hat and said:
"May God watch over your gallant enterprise, Senor; and hold your life,and that of her whom you love, in the hollow of His hand!" The Americansaid:
"Honest injun! old chap, is that the best you can do? If it's only a manand a life you want, count ster that don't count So far as that goes, I'ot to find the ship, you know! If she was there now, I should say 'riskit'; and I'd come with you if you liked But there's the whole North Seaout there, with roo No, no! Come, I say, let us find another way round; where wecan help the girl all together!" He was a good young fellow, as wellas a fine one, and it was evident he ;hi a couple of rockets with me whichI would try to keep dry so that should occasion serve I would makemanifest the whereabouts of the whaler He already knehat to do withregard to signalling from shore, in case the boats of the whaler shouldbe seen
When we had made what preparations we could for the work each of us hadin hand, the ti on my perilous enterprise Asmy purpose became more definite, my companions, who I think doubted intheir hearts its sincerity, becaue intention of setting out on a wild journey ofthe kind, and even here coh cliff, in the dark, a up from belowas the wind puffs drove it on shore; when below our feet the risingwaves broke against the rocks with an ominous sound, made into a roar bythe broken fastnesses of the cliffs, the whole thing h a break in the fog-belt we could catcha gli far below into furious, scatteringlines of foaoing deliberately to certain death My own heart quailed atwreaths the narrow track, dohich Iinto a horrid gloo water drove up, , however, and by keeping my mindfixed on it I could shut out present terrors I shook hands with rip of their hands, setmyself resolutely to navy man said to me were:
"Reht of any kindwill give us a hint of where you are Once the men of the _Keystone_ seeit, they'll do the rest at sea; as we shall on land Give us such alight when the tiet it!"
At the foot of the cliff path the prospect was al water, as the waves leaped atthe out ofthe waste of white water; and a reat ri down theri waves and lines of foahall caue and fearso caverns of DunbuyNothing but the faith which I had in the vision of Marjory, which cameto me with the dead eyes of the western Seer, could have carried looerwoke to me at once, and for a moment appalled me
But Faith is a conquering power; even the habit of believing, in which Ihad been taught, stood to one forth as I did into that unknown of gloom and fear
I waited till a great ept in close underthought: 'For Marjory!' Ileaped into the co water