She, apparently with no set object, stood off and on or lay to,
hour after hour; but as the evening deepened, she drew steadily
nearer. I became more convinced that she carried Northmour and his
friends, and that they would probably come ashore after dark; not
only because that was of a piece with the secrecy of the
preparations, but because the tide would not have flowed
sufficiently before eleven to cover Graden Floe and the other sea
quags that fortified the shore against invaders.
All day the wind had been going down, and the sea along with it;
but there was a return towards sunset of the heavy weather of the
day before. The night set in pitch dark. The wind came off the
sea in squalls, like the firing of a battery of cannon; now and
then there was a flaw of rain, and the surf rolled heavier with the
rising tide. I was down at my observatory among the elders, when a
light was run up to the masthead of the schooner, and showed she
was closer in than when I had last seen her by the dying daylight.
I concluded that this must be a signal to Northmour's associates on
shore; and, stepping forth into the links, looked around me for
something in response.
A small footpath ran along the margin of the wood, and formed the
most direct communication between the pavilion and the mansion-
house; and, as I cast my eyes to that side, I saw a spark of light,
not a quarter of a mile away, and rapidly approaching.
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