'God save poor souls at sea,' said I.
'Amen to that,' says he, 'and would that every Amen I have said had come
as truly from my heart. There will be sea enough on Moonfleet Beach this
night to lift a schooner to the top of it, and launch her down into the
fields behind. I had as lief be in the Mohune vault as in this fearsome
place, and liefer too, if half the tales men tell are true of faces that
may meet one here. For God's sake let us light a fire, for I caught sight
of a store of driftwood before that sickly candle went out.'
It was some time before we got a fire alight, and even after the flame
had caught well hold, the rush of the wind would every now and again blow
the smoke into our eyes, or send a shower of sparks dancing through the
cave. But by degrees the logs began to glow clear white, and such a
cheerful warmth came out, as was in itself a solace and remedy for man's
afflictions.
'Ah!' said Ratsey, 'I was shrammed with wet and cold, and half-dead with
this baffling wind. It is a blessed thing a fire,' and he unbuttoned his
pilot-coat, 'and needful now, if ever. My soul is very low, lad, for
this place has strange memories for me; and I recollect, forty years ago
(when I was just a boy like thee), old lander Jordan's gang, and I among
them, were in this very cave on such another night.
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