Over the boggy ground they went. (P. [338].)
The storm continued to increase in fury until at length the waters rose and almost covered him and he began to think that he would be drowned, when a sort of waterspout arose and, catching him up, dashed him to the foot of the rocks with so much force that he became unconscious.
When he regained his senses he felt bruised and weak. He could hear a faint sound of singing, which at first he took to be merely the sighing and moaning of the waves, but as it grew louder he began to recognise the tune as a hymn which he had heard the fishermen singing on board a Dutch herring smack.
Nearer and nearer came the sound of the music, and presently to his surprise he saw a procession of human figures approaching him. Grief and fear were depicted on their countenances, and their clothes were all dripping with water.
As they came close up to him the singing ceased; the procession was led by several musicians, then came a number of sailors, and behind them walked a big fat man dressed in quaint, old-fashioned garments, which were richly embroidered with gold threads. He had a sword by his side and in his hand he carried a long thick Spanish cane with a gold knob.
A negro boy walked beside him carrying the long pipe from which his master drew a whiff from time to time. A number of other richly-dressed men accompanied him, all of them carrying pipes, though not such handsome ones as that of the stout man. Behind these came a number of women, all handsomely attired in old-fashioned garments, some of them carried little children in their arms, and some led children by the hand.
A crowd of Dutch sailors closed the procession, each of them having a quid of tobacco in his mouth and a pipe between his teeth, which he smoked in gloomy silence. As the whole assembly began to close round Will, the smoke from their pipes grew denser and denser and he felt as though he were about to be smothered.
He was by nature a courageous man, but a nameless terror now seemed to seize him, which was increased by the sight of the little yellow man, who had suddenly appeared and was seated close beside him.
