"Will you tell me what time it is," I said, after some remarks had been
passed.
"Nearly leben o'clock in the vorenoon," said one of the men. "'Ave 'ee
bin slaipin' here oal night?"
I nodded.
"Then you must be awful ungry."
"Yes," I said, "have you anything to eat?"
For reply, a basket containing a good deal of wholesome food was placed
before me. I ate heartily, for I was hungry, and after making a good
meal prepared to go on.
The men did not ask me who I was, or where I was going, but looked
smilingly on the few coins I gave them, and wished me a good journey.
I went on in a dazed way the whole of the day, stopping only once for
refreshment at a little wayside alehouse. I inquired of the landlord
if he had heard any news, but he said, No, nothing had happened except
that his sister-in-law had got another, her eleventh baby. As I did
not regard this of much importance, I trudged on again as soon as I had
finished my meal. That I might be going in the teeth of danger did not
occur to me; in fact, I never troubled about any punishment for my
deed, except the terrible punishment of my conscience.
About eight o'clock in the evening, I entered the parish of Trewinion,
and soon, as if drawn by a magnet, I found my way to the place where
Wilfred and I had met.
How vividly everything came back to me, and yet I seemed to have lived
long years since we met. Only two days had elapsed; and I had seemed
to have grown old in that time. In my excited imagination I pictured
him coming towards me again; but soon my illusions were dispelled.
I looked up towards my old home, wondering if I should see any signs of
what had happened, but the house was quiet, and, except for a few
lights that flashed from the windows, I saw no signs of life. The
prongs of the "Devil's Tooth" still lifted themselves in the air, but
no light was there; evidently Betsey Fraddam was not visiting her old
haunt that night.
Again I stood on the place on which we had wrestled, again I looked
from the dizzy heights on the rocks below, as if trying to see Wilfred,
but nothing was visible. The rocks told no stories; the moaning sea
did not recount what had become of my brother's body.
Had he been found, I wondered? It could scarcely be otherwise.
Fisherman were constantly tramping along the beach, and when he was
missed search would certainly be made. Still it might not have so
happened; I would go down to the beach to see. The tide was ebbing
out, and I could easily walk along the sands at the foot of the cliffs.
I went to the place where a rough track had been made, and soon got on
the beach. It was a glorious night; the sea shone beneath the silvery
light of the moon, and had I any melody in my heart the splash of the
water on the beach must have made music to me; but there was nothing
but remorse and despair within me, thus, what would have otherwise have
been a song of gladness was only a wail of misery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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