Thus encouraged, Captain Jeremy carefully filled his long clay pipe, and resting the glowing bowl on the edge of the table (somewhat, I fear, to my father's displeasure, though he made no sign on 't), he proceeded to point out the characteristics of the island, the shoals and currents in its vicinity, the secure anchorage, and where a boat could make a landing without hazard to itself or its crew.
To all this I listened intently, my eyes glistening with excitement; but, greatly to my disappointment, just as Captain Miles was about to explain how and where the Madre treasure lay hidden, my father exclaimed:
"The hour is late, Clifford, therefore bid us good night and go to bed."
There was no help for it; I retired from the room reluctantly, pausing for one instant to gaze upon the scene, as the two bronzed-faced seamen bent eagerly over the musty parchment, the key to the undertaking that was, we hoped, to restore the house of Hammond to its former affluence.
CHAPTER VI
A Midnight Intruder
Although the day had opened fine and bright, the evening had brought with it an unwelcome change in the weather. A south-westerly gale, blowing straight from the English Channel, swept across the land, accompanied by heavy downpours of rain and hail; while ever and anon vivid flashes of lightning, followed by deafening peals of thunder that shook the house to its foundations, would pierce the darkness of the night.
For more than an hour I remained at my window, watching the flashes play upon the distant trees of the forest, or light up the rolling expanse of gorse-clad heath. So fierce was the wind that the branches of a tree close to my casement were lashed violently against the thatch, while a tall elm at the edge of the lawn had been uprooted, and lay athwart the sodden road.
At length the storm receded, and, tired out, I sought repose.
It must have been some time betwixt midnight and dawn, for 'twas still dark, when I awoke with a start and a vague feeling that something was amiss.