"It is a man in a wrap rascal," said the boy, "and I think he has got a cutlass under it, from what I see. But he's not coming near here, and is walking away to the eastward."
"That's awkward," said Hailes, "for that is just the way they're coming."
A long and anxious pause succeeded, and not a word was spoken by any one; each listening attentively long after the sound of the steps had died away. Nothing farther was heard for some time, however, and Hailes, after going into the next room to look out, returned, saying, that the beach was then all clear.
"The moon is just going down," he said, "which is all the better for us. But I hope this young lady won't be long, for before an hour's over, we ought to be afloat."
"Who do you take with you in the boat?" demanded Charles Tyrrell.
"Nobody," said Hailes. "You must lend a hand yourself, sir. I dare not trust anybody, unless I'm forced to it; for though the folks next door are just like ourselves, you know, yet they are not quite ourselves either."
A moment after, quick steps were heard upon the beach, and then came a quick tap at the door. Hannah Longly darted into the next room like lightning, and in another instant, Lucy Effingham, pale, agitated, and fatigued, was in Charles Tyrrell's arms. She shed no tears, however, though there were the traces of many upon her cheeks; but the only words she could speak, were,
"Oh, Charles, I hope I am not doing wrong!"
She had been followed into the cottage, by Morrison, and the maid-servant, whose bewildered look evidently showed, that, notwithstanding all Mrs. Effingham's care, she was not fully prepared for the situation in which she was placed.
"We have been delayed for half an hour," said Morrison, "fearing to pass a man who kept walking up and down upon the beach just opposite the path where we were coming down. Luckily, Miss Effingham saw him before he had seen us, and we waited till he went away round the point."