The Portuguese shrugged his shoulders. "Qual sabe, Senhor?" he replied nonchalantly.
The men, strapping their spades on their backs, began the ascent, the Portuguese being told to remain till half the party had gained the summit.
When my turn came I leapt with all the buoyancy of youth on to the lowermost crag, grasping an overhanging tuft of reeds and grass to gain the next step; but the reeds were as sharp as a razor, and before I realized it the palm of my hand was cut to the bone, and the blood poured in a stream down my arm and over my doublet.
The sudden pain and the loss of blood caused me to slip to the foot of the cliff, and for a time everything became blank and my head swam. Someone forced my head betwixt my knees, so that in a short space of time I felt better.
"You would do well to return to the boat," said Captain Poynings in a tone that meant no refusal. "Can you manage to find the path, or shall I send a man with you?"
I replied that I was well enough to go, and reluctantly I turned back.
Drake laid a hand on my shoulder. "Never heed, Aubrey," said he sympathetically. "'Tis better to return with a gashed hand like yours. But I'll tell you all when we come back."
Slowly I went till I reached the edge of the wood. Then I lingered, watching the party make the ascent, which they did speedily and without further mishap. Then I heard their footsteps die away as they plunged through the thick underwood, and I was alone.
The path, by reason of the numbers that had but recently passed, was now well-defined, and I had no difficulty in finding it. Dommett, the boatkeeper, received me without signs of surprise, and on telling him of my misadventure, he merely ejaculated a loud "Well done", which was a favourite expression of his, no matter what caused him to make it, insomuch that on board he was dubbed by his messmates "Well done Dommett".
However, he bathed my hand in seawater, although the salt did make it smart mightily, and, tying it with a strip of wet linen, he told me to keep quiet, so as not unduly to excite my head, which was by now throbbing like to burst.