We went hand in hand slowly and cautiously, hardly daring to breathe;
and after a time that seemed endless came out at the back of the chapel.
Then we stole quietly along by the southern wall. As we passed the first
window, Marjory who was ahead of me stopped and gripped my hand so hard
that I knew there must be some good cause for her agitation. She pressed
back so that we both stood away from the window opening which we could
just see dimly outlined on the granite wall, the black vacancy showing
against the lichen-covered stone. Putting her lips close to my ear she
whispered:
"There are people there. I heard them talking!" My blood began to run
cold. In an instant all the danger in which Marjory stood rushed back
upon me. Of late we had been immune from trouble, so that danger which
we did not know of seemed to stand far off; but now the place and the
hour, the very reputation of the old chapel, all sent back in a flood
the fearful imaginings which had assailed me since first I had known of
the plot against Marjory. Instinctively my first act was to draw my wife
close to me and hold her tight. Even in that moment it was a joy to me
to feel that she let herself come willingly. For a few moments we stood
silent, with our hearts beating together; then she whispered to me
again:
"We must listen. We may perhaps find out who they are, and what they
intend."
Accordingly we drew again close to the opening, Marjory standing under
the aperture, and I beside it as I found I could hear better in this
position. The stooping made the coursing of my own blood sound in my
ears. The voice which we first heard was a strong one, for even when
toned to a whisper it was resonant as well as harsh and raucous:
"Then it's settled we wait till we get word from Whiskey Tommy. How long
is it likely to be?" The answering voice, also a whisper, was smooth and
oily, but penetrating:
"Can't say. He has to square the Dutchy: and they take a lot of sugar,
his kind. They're mighty pious when they're right end up; but Lordy!
when they're down they're holy terrors. This one is a peach. But he's
clever--I will say that; and he knows it. I'm almost sorry we took him
in now, though he is so clever. He'd better mind out, though, for none
of us love him; and if he goes back on us, or does not come up to the
mark--" He stopped, and the sentence was finished by a click which I
knew was the snapping of the spring of a bowie knife when it is thrown
open.
"And quite right too. I'm on if need be!" and there was another click.
The answering voice was strong and resolute, but somehow, for all the
wicked intent spoken, it did not sound so evil as the other. I looked
at Marjory, and saw through the darkness that her eyes were blazing. My
heart leaped again; the old pioneer spirit was awake in her, and somehow
my dread for her was not the same. She drew close to me and whispered
again:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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