Theres not a capful of wind,and its as safe as
crossing a voe. It was fire that somehow at the back of his headhe dreaded for
himself and his belongings.
Immediately after luncheon I rang up Hjalmarshavn,
but could notget through.
They wereprisoners, mere helpless baggage to be
towed in the wake of theenemy. I asked crossly, for the motor-boatwas our only
transport to the outer world.
The Skipper bowed to Anna and nodded pleasantly to
Peter John.
Come along, my dears, but I think youd betterleave
the bird here. At any cost he and Anna must get off andcarry the fateful
news.
Come along, my dears, but I think youd betterleave
the bird here. He followed Martel on deck, feeling as if the end of allthings had
come.
Too much of a grubby trawler fortheir nice clothes.
A stubbornsilence was the one course left to them. He could make nothing of
thehammock, so he sat himself on the heap of blankets and tried tothink. The sight
of the man sent a spasm of sharp fear through PeterJohns dull misery.
Somehow I felt thatthe trim little ship kept us in
touch with civilized things.
He did notclamp it down, but left it ajar. Where
they were, how they had got here, I never troubledto think. He wrapped the paper in
a bit of silk torn from hisnecktie, and tied it round Morags leg.
I dont know why hetold me that, but he seemed to
think it important, for he said itseveral times. Once we get to bargaining weput the
lid on his bloody piracy, and thats what we most want.
Behind all his escapadeswith Anna had been this
serious preoccupation.
Ive had the same idea myself, but Itell you it wont
do. Peter John darted after her and tried its handle.
Like a stone from acatapult she shot up into the
moonlit fog. Meantime, in the deck-house they had left, there was a feverishcouncil.
He has awonderful place over there, hasnt he? I have heard nothing of Clanroyden
since we leftLondon. And now, he said, let me have a look at our hostages. Albinus
was the common rogue who had alreadyknown the shady side of the law. She took Annas
hand and led her out, andthe boy followed.
Hell descend on the Islandlike a marauding Viking
and hold em up. He saw that I was anxious, and he did hisbest to live up to my
instructions.
You must be our guests for the night, I fear, he
said. I felt myself set down on a possible battlefieldwith no sign of the
commander-in-chief.
Peter John listened with interest,and at the end
with disapproval.
Magnificent, wonderful, terrible, inhuman,like some
devastating force of nature.
Besides, in this weather they wont see us from the
shore.
Haraldsen farmed his land for him, since histwo
sons had both perished at sea. There was a revolver for eachof us, and a spare one
which I had destined for Peter John.
I ran back to the House in what was pretty near a
panic.