“I am weary of requests that are but sugared commands,” he said thickly. “Go seek your own men, an you will. Here we are but man to man, and I budge not. I stay, as the King would have me stay, beside the unfortunate lady whom you have made the prisoner and the plaything of a pirate ship.”
“You wear no sword, my Lord Carnal,” I said at last, “and so may lie with impunity.”
“But you can get me one!” he cried, with ill-concealed eagerness.
I laughed. “I am not zealous in mine enemy’s cause, my lord. I shall not deprive Master Sparrow of your lordship’s sword.”
Before I knew what he was about, he crossed the yard of sand between us and struck me in the face. “Will that quicken your zeal?” he demanded between his teeth.
I seized him by the arm, and we stood so, both white with passion, both breathing heavily. At length I flung his arm from me and stepped back. “I fight not my prisoner,” I said, “nor, while the lady you have named abides upon that ship with the nobleman who, more than myself, is answerable for her being there, do I put my life in unnecessary hazard. I will endure the smart as best I may, my lord, until a more convenient season, when I will salve it well.”
I turned to Mistress Percy, and giving her my hand led her down to the boats; for I heard the fruit-gatherers breaking through the wood, and the hunters for eggs, black figures against the crimson sky, were hurrying down the beach. Before the night had quite fallen we were out of the fairy harbour, and when the moon rose the islet looked only a silver sail against the jewelled heavens.
CHAPTER XXIV
In which We Choose the Lesser of Two Evils
THE luck that had been ours could not hold; when the tide turned, it ebbed fast.
The weather changed. One hurricane followed upon the stride of another, with only a blue day or two between. Ofttimes we thought the ship was lost. All hands toiled like galley-slaves; and as the heavens darkened, there darkened also the mood of the pirates.