They were simple words, yet pleasing to me; for Elzevir spoke as if he meant them, and I had got to like him a little in spite of all his grimness; and beside that, was sorry for his grief over his son. I was so moved by what he said, that for a moment I was for jumping up and calling out to him that I lay here and liked him well, but then thought better of it, and so kept still.

The carrying was over, and I fancy they were all sitting on the ends of kegs or leaning up against the pile; but could not see, and was still much troubled with the torch smoke, though now and then I caught through it a whiff of tobacco, which showed that some were smoking.

Then Greening, who had a singing voice for all his drawl, struck up with--

Says the Cap'n to the crew, We have slipt the revenue,

but Ratsey stopped him with a sharp "No more of that; the words aren't to our taste tonight, but come as wry as if the parson called Old Hundred and I tuned up with Veni." I knew he meant the last verse with a hanging touch in it; but Greening was for going on with the song, until some others broke in too, and he saw that the company would have none of it.

"Not but what the labourer is worthy of his hire," went on Master Ratsey; "so spile that little breaker of Schiedam, and send a rummer round to keep off midnight chills."

He loved a glass of the good liquor well, and with him 'twas always the same reasoning, namely, to keep off chills; though he chopped the words to suit the season, and now 'twas autumn, now winter, now spring, or summer chills.

They must have found glasses, though I could not remember to have seen any in the vault, for a minute later fugleman Ratsey spoke again--

"Now, lads, glasses full and bumpers for a toast. And here's to Blackbeard, to Father Blackbeard, who watches over our treasure better than he did over his own; for were it not the fear of him that keeps off idle feet and prying eyes, we should have the gaugers in, and our store ransacked twenty times."

So he spoke, and it seemed there was a little halting at first, as of men not liking to take Blackbeard's name in Blackbeard's place, or raise the Devil by mocking at him. But then some of the bolder shouted "Blackbeard", and so the more timid chimed in, and in a minute there were a score of voices calling "Blackbeard, Blackbeard", till the place rang again.

Then Elzevir cried out angrily, "Silence. Are you mad, or has the liquor mastered you? Are you Revenue- men that you dare shout and roister? or contrabandiers with the lugger in the offing, and your life in you hand. You make noise enough to wake folk in Moonfleet from their beds."

"Tut, man," retorted Ratsey testily, "and if they waked, they would but pull the blankets tight about their ears, and say 'twas Blackbeard piping his crew of lost Mohunes to help him dig for treasure."

Yet for all that 'twas plain that Block ruled the roost, for there was silence for a minute, and then one said, "Ay, Master Elzevir is right; let us away, the night is far spent, and we have nothing but the sweeps to take the lugger out of sight by dawn."

So the meeting broke up, and the torchlight grew dimmer, and died away as it had come in a red flicker on the roof and the footsteps sounded fainter as they went up the passage, until the vault was left to the dead men and me. Yet for a very long time - it seemed hours - after all had gone I could hear a murmur of distant voices, and knew that some were talking at the end of the passage, and perhaps considering how the landslip might best be restored. So while I heard them thus conversing I dared not descend from my perch, lest someone might turn back to the vault, though I was glad enough to sit up, and ease my aching back and limbs. Yet in the awful blackness of the place even the echo of