“Ah, I see,” said their captor at last: “you vill not eat, and I know ze reason. Ma foi, and it is too late to make ze amende you call him. You bose mean to eat ze
grand krebs you ’ave catch and ’ave give him to ze men. Hélas! it is, as you say, a pity. Now you forget him, and eat ze cotelette. To-morrow you not like ze dinner vis ze crew, and,” he added, with a grin, “you may bose be vairy sick—malade-de-mer, eh?”
He helped them both liberally, but they could not eat; and soon after they followed their host on deck, to find that the hatches were off, and the bales all carefully stacked below, while the emptied boat had disappeared and another was on the way, Vince paying great heed to the manner in which she glided up to the lugger just about amidships.
By the time it was dusk five heavy loads had been brought on board, and the hatches were then replaced, the boats all but one being hoisted to the davits, the other left swinging by its painter from a ring-bolt astern; and from the number of men aboard the boys judged that no one was left at the caves. They noticed too that, contrary to custom, no light was hoisted anywhere about the vessel, and that, though there were lanthorns in the men’s cabin forward, and in the captain’s aft, no gleam shone forth to play upon the water.
No one seemed to pay any heed to the prisoners, who went from place to place to gaze now up at the darkening rocks, with the stars above them beginning to twinkle faintly here and there, now down at the black waters, which, as the night deepened, began to reflect the bright points of light from the heavens. But soon after, to take their attention a little from their cares, they began to notice that the dark depths below them were alive with light—little specks, that looked like myriads of stars in motion, rising from below the vessel’s keel, coming rapidly towards the surface and then gliding rapidly away. Every now and then there was a flash of light, just as if a pale greenish-golden flame had darted through the water from below; and, after noticing this several times, Vince said quietly—
“Fish feeding.”
“Don’t,” said Mike petulantly. “Who’s to think about fish feeding, when we’re like this? You don’t seem to mind it a bit.”
“Don’t I?” said Vince quietly; “but I do. Every time I see one of those little jelly-fish sailing along there, it makes me think of the light in our window at home—the one mother always puts there when I’m up at your place, so that I may see it from ever so far along the road. Father always jokes about it, and says it’s nonsense, but she puts it there all the same; and it’s there now, Mike, for she’s sure to say I may have been carried out to sea in some boat and be coming back to-night.”
“Oh, don’t—don’t!” groaned Mike: “it seems too horrid to hear.”