“Then,” said Ludar, “pile up more fuel, and fetch a torch.”
The man and I stared at him in amazement.
“Do you hear?” he thundered. “Am I McDonnell or are you?”
Then when the man, scared and terrified, went off to obey, Ludar said to me:
“I cannot help this, Humphrey. The signal must go out to-night, or all will be too late. Something tells me she is looking this way even now, praying for deliverance. Something tells me, too, that a day’s more delay, and Dunluce is lost to us for ever. This shall bring all to a head, for better or worse.”
“But your father,” said I. “If he be not ready—”
“Sorley Boy McDonnell is always ready,” said Ludar, proudly.
So we stood silent and waited till the shepherd brought the torch.
“Can we see Dunluce from here?” I asked presently.
He took my arm and pointed to where, away in the west, a gleam of moonlight struck the sea.