"I care not!" stubbornly.
A moment the Black Seigneur regarded him; then made a gesture.
"Well, have your way!" He listened. "The wind is in the west."
"A little south of west," answered the man.
"A rough night for your boat to have crossed!"
"Oh, I was bound to come! And if you hadn't been here, I'd have gone on, on,—till I found you—"
The hand of the young man touched the other's shoulder. "Come!" he said, and threw open the door.
"You are going in the storm?" The girl, Nanette, intercepted them.
The Black Seigneur nodded shortly.
"It must be an important mission to take you to sea on such a night. Why don't you stay where it's warm and comfortable? Or," with a laugh, "at least until Monsieur Gabarie," indicating the corpulent figure intrenched behind a barricade of dishes and bottles on a small table near the fire, "has finished the little puppet play he is writing."