sky or the hearth; here awhile I rested, and after brake again into the
path, and made for the Bay of the Saints, where Maugher dwelt.

Now, I was not far upon my road when I heard a faint whistle through the
trees, and, running back a few yards, I saw the old ruins I had left,
not empty, as I had left them, but--strange sight--tenanted, I could
see, by men, and, as I thought, men of evil aspect. Now, I knew that
they had seen me, and thought me well upon my road, so I dared not
return; and, indeed, I feared in my heart, for I had little doubt they
were pirates, if not spirits of the men of old of whom I had been
dreaming. Therefore I went swiftly on my path, and covered quite a mile
ere I brake into the forest again, and made my way back to another side
of that old ruined fort. Now, as I crept up, I saw little that was
strange--only two men walking to and fro in earnest conversation, and
from where I lay--for nearer I durst not approach--I could hear nothing
of their talk. They were men of light and supple build, bearded, and of
dark swarthy skin, as of those who know no shelter but the decking of a
ship, and their hands were seldom absent, as they paced it side by side,
from the hilts of the brace of daggers swinging from their waists. I
guessed that they were pirates, and my heart fell as I remembered what
manner of men they were--haters of all--their God, their king, their
fellow-men--and how, in consequence, the hand of man was against their
hand, as their hand was against man's. Where were the other men I had
seen? In a moment I guessed the truth, for I caught the dull sound of
digging and delving in the earth below--thud, thud, thud--as of many
spades and picks, and beyond the angle of the wall I saw the earthwork
piled with new earth in many places. So my young eyes peered curiously
and cautiously out through the leaves, and a flood of feelings struggled
in my heart, and the digging went on--thud, thud, thud--beneath my very
feet, and the two strange men trod ever up and down, staying at times