"Well—" she said, as he paused.
"That is all. The ruffians were all killed and the prisoner rescued."
"And the boy?"
"Oh, the boy! He went back to his books."
"Did you know him?"
"Yes, I knew him. See, madam, it has quite cleared. How the moon whitens those leaping waves!"
"Yes, it is beautiful. I am glad the prisoner escaped. Was he a fisherman?"
"No; an officer of the Excise—a gallant man, with a wife and many children. Yes, I suppose he prized life."
"And I am glad that the smugglers were all killed."
Landless smiled. "Life to them was sweet, too, perhaps."