The voices sank again, and presently I heard the outer door creak. They had left the forge; I stepped to the open window and saw them go to the little shed close to the beach, by which Pinnow's boat was usually drawn up on the sand. They disappeared in the shadow of the shed; then I heard a chain rattle, and a grating on the sand; they were launching the boat. All was then still: the only sounds audible were the stronger roaring of the sea, mingled with the rush of the wind in the leaves of the old oak, which threw its half-decayed boughs over the forge.
I heard a rustling in the room, and turned quickly round. It was Christel; she stood behind me, looking with an intense gaze, as I had just done, through the window into the darkness.
"Well, Christel!" I said.
She placed her finger on her lips, and whispered, "Hush!" then beckoned me from the window. Surprised rather than alarmed, I followed her.
"What is the matter, Christel?"
"Don't go with them, whatever you do. And go away from here at once. You cannot stay here."
"But, Christel, why not? And who is the gentleman?"
"I must not tell you; I must not speak his name. If you go with them, you will learn it soon enough; but do not go!"
"Why? What will they do to me, Christel?"
"Do? They will do nothing to you. But do not go with them."