“The water is deep. The distance is very far. You will give the knife!” He advanced a step. Without appearing to move their feet, the statue-like pair advanced.
The whole scene, the dark ship, the menacing men, the water, the night, was so like a play that Florence could scarcely believe her senses.
Then to her alert ears came a sound, a low chant:
“A hey, yuh! A hey, yuh! A hey, yuh!”
She had heard that sound before. But where? For ten seconds she wracked her brain. Then she knew.
“Listen!” She endeavored to speak quietly. “You believe in demons. Listen! What do you hear?”
The long-eared one stood rigid, silent, listening.
The sound grew louder: “A hey, yuh! A hey, yuh! A hey, yuh!”
“You believe in demons,” she repeated. “Well, here are demons for you, black demons with long knives in their belts. They are coming to rescue me. And let me tell you, you will need a hundred three-bladed knives to frighten these away, and men to use the knives. You are only three. They are many. They are big, black!”
The menacing ones and the statues glided back a step.