‘Trust me there, too.’ He put his head out to take another look at the decks, and then said: ‘You’ll have to fib, Marian, when you’re brought out. I’m sorry, but it must never be known that I’ve had a hand in hiding you. You will say, when questioned--and it won’t be far from the truth, either--that you bribed one of the Deptford riggers to provision you. If they find the bottles and the tinned stuff, they’ll go into the matter closely. We may contrive that they shan’t find anything; if they do, your yarn must be called “The Rigger Corrupt; or, The Lie and the Lumper.” Now wait.’ He went into the forecastle and returned. ‘The coast’s clear. Come along!’ I followed him instantly. It was but a step from his cabin to the forecastle entrance. The gloomy interior was empty and silent. Betwixt the giant windlass and the hawse-pipes were stretched the massive links of the chain-cable. I heard the tramp of a few soldiers overhead, marching to and fro to keep themselves warm. ‘Take that end of the hatch-cover and lift with me,’ said Will, in a voice of excitement, looking behind him. I put my hand to the cover, and between us we raised it. The hatch was little more than a man-hole, big enough to admit two men at a time. ‘Now look!’ cried Will. ‘Have you the heart? It’s not too late! See how black it is! And you may be obliged to remain down there a fortnight!’ ‘Give me your sketch of the inside,’ said I. He quickly handed it to me. I looked at it and then put it in my pocket, and, without another word, I put my foot on the ladder of rungs nailed to the bulkhead, and in a moment was at the bottom. ‘Keep that hatch open whilst I take a short look,’ I softly exclaimed. ‘The mate’s calling me,’ he answered. ‘I’ll come again, if possible, later on;’ and he closed the hatch. The blackness was utter. I had heard tell of dark rooms in which jail-prisoners were locked up for punishment, but no dark jail-cell could be blacker than the blackness of this ship’s store-room. I stood for some time motionless under the hatch where I had stopped when Will shut me down; I hoped to get the use of my eyes, and imagined that this profound dye of blackness might be owing to my coming out of the light into it. The silence was that of a burial-vault: I heard the swift beat of my heart in my ears and nothing more. After a bit, small, delicate worms or fibres of fire began to tremble and crawl upon the blackness. I knew them to be the phosphorus in my vision, and heeded them not, but winked with a fancy of extinguishing the strange flames.