Nor
was I even much scared, as one who having been in peril of life from the
contraband-men for a spy, and in peril from evil ghosts for rifling
Blackbeard's tomb, deemed it a light thing to be left in the dark to wait
an hour till morning. So I sat down on the floor of the passage, which,
if damp, was at least soft, and being tired with what I had gone through,
and not used to miss a night's rest, fell straightway asleep.
How long I slept I cannot tell, for I had nothing to guide me to the
time, but woke at length, and found myself still in darkness. I stood up
and stretched my limbs, but did not feel as one refreshed by wholesome
sleep, but sick and tired with pains in back, arms, and legs, as if
beaten or bruised. I have said I was still in darkness, yet it was not
the blackness of the last night; and looking up into the inside of the
tomb above, I could see the faintest line of light at one corner, which
showed the sun was up. For this line of light was the sunlight, filtering
slowly through a crevice at the joining of the stones; but the sides of
the tomb had been fitted much closer than I reckoned for, and it was
plain there would never be light in the place enough to guide me to my
work. All this I considered as I rested on the ground, for I had sat down
again, feeling too tired to stand.
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