Old Fog nodded.
'Can anything be done for the men on board? Answer or I'll end your miserable life at once; I don't know why, indeed, I have tried to save it.'
Old Fog shook his head. 'Nothing,' he murmured; 'I know every inch of the reef and shore.'
Another flash revealed for an instant the doomed vessel, and Waring raged at his own impotence as he strode to and fro, tears of anger and pity in his eyes. The old man watched him anxiously. 'There are not more than six of them,' he said; 'it was only a small schooner.'
'Silence!' shouted Waring; 'each man of the six now suffering and drowning is worth a hundred of such as you!'
'That may be,' said Fog.
Half an hour afterwards he spoke again. 'They're about gone now, the water is deadly cold up here. The wind will go down soon, and by daylight the things will be coming ashore; you'll see to them, won't you?'
'I'll see to nothing, murderer.'
'And if I die what are you?'
'An avenger.'