Terrified, he began to climb quickly upwards when, just as he was creeping out of the crevice, he heard once more, “Carmilhan,” softly whispered from the depths. Then he fled like a frightened deer to his home.
Will was, however, no coward, he had merely been taken unawares; besides that, his craze for gold was too strong in him for the appearance of danger to frighten him from the path he had entered upon. One moonlight night as he was using his drag in his search for treasures near the Cavern of Steenfoll, it caught fast in something. He pulled with all his strength, but could not move it. In the meantime the wind had risen, dark clouds drifted across the sky, the boat rocked violently and threatened to overturn, but Will would not give in, he tugged and pulled until at length the resistance ceased, and as he felt no weight he thought the cords of the net must have broken. But just as the clouds were about to cover the moon a round black mass rose to the surface and once more he heard the word “Carmilhan” whispered. He would have seized it, but as he was about to stretch out his arm it disappeared in the darkness of the night and the storm broke, forcing him to seek shelter beneath the rocks. Here he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, but only to endure the same restless misery that he endured by day, owing to his everlasting longing for wealth.
The first rays of the rising sun illumined the surface of the water when Will awoke. He was about to set out upon his accustomed work when he saw something approaching him from a distance; he recognised it to be a boat with a man in it, but what aroused his curiosity was that the boat was moving along without the assistance of either sails or rudder and the bows were turned to the shore.
THE CAVERN OF STEENFOLL.
“I came to look for the Carmilhan,” he said
p. [335].
The boat came nearer and nearer and stopped at length beside Will’s boat, and Will could see that the person in it was a little wizened old man, dressed [!-- original location of full page illustration --] [!-- blank page --] in yellow linen with a red pointed night-cap on his head, his eyes were closed and he looked as though he were dead. Will called to him several times without obtaining an answer, and was about to fasten a cord to the boat in order to tow it along when the man opened his eyes and writhed about in a fashion that filled even the hardy fisherman with horror.
“Where am I?” he asked with a deep sigh, speaking in Dutch, and Will, who had learnt a few words of that language from the Dutch herring fishers, told him the name of the island, and asked him who he was and what had brought him there.
“I came to look for the Carmilhan,” he said.
“What is the Carmilhan?” cried the fisherman eagerly.