The water was deeper by four inches than it had been when he first reached the bottom of the cave. The dwarf looked up at the girl, who sat smiling at him, and his face reddened slightly. Then, without more ado, he climbed back upon the ledge, and sat down beside Alixe, hanging his dripping feet toward the water, which now covered the tallest of the stones on the floor of the cave.
“David, thou must go. Climb down, and save thyself quickly. Thy slender body cannot much longer breast the tide.”
David crossed his knees and clasped his hands around them. “If thou stayest, I also will remain.”
“I beg of thee, go, ere it is too late!”
“Not without thee.”
“In the name of God I ask it.”
“We two were together in God’s hand.”
“Then so be it, David. Sit thou here beside me. We will wait together.”
The little man did not reply to her this time, and Alixe felt no more need for speech. They sat there, occupied with their own thoughts, both watching, under the spell of a peculiar fascination, how the green water was mounting, mounting toward them. The cave was filled with blinding light from the setting sun. The roar of the ocean, a voice mighty and ineffable, filled all their consciousness. White-crested breakers rolled in and broke below them, and their faces were wet with chill salt spray. The water in the cave was waist-deep.
Alixe was growing cold. A deadly intoxication stole upon her senses, and she bent far over the ledge to look into the swirling, foamy green below her.