"No! If you are a friend, you know our pass-word; if a foe, you shall
not know it from me. You can go down the cliff, and ask our commander's
name from yon sleepy Orson; his tongue goes fast enough at all seasons."
The stranger entirely withdrew his hold from Springall, while he moved
towards the summit of the rock. Quick as lightning, the whistle was
applied to the youth's mouth, and three rapid, distinct notes cut
through the night air, and were echoed by the surrounding caverns.
"I thank thee, boy," said the mysterious being, calmly; "that tells of
Hugh Dalton and the Fire-fly."
And he disappeared so instantaneously from the spot, that Springall
rubbed first his eyes, and then his arm, to be assured whether the
events of the last few minutes were not the effects of a distempered
imagination. He had, however, more certain proof of its reality: for,
upon peering closely through the darkness into the thick wood that
skirted the east, he distinctly noted the glitter of steel in two or
three points at the same moment; and apprehensive that their landing
must have been witnessed by more than one person--the hostile intentions
of whom he could scarcely doubt--he examined the priming of his
pistols, called to Jeromio to look out, for that danger was at hand, and
resumed his watch, fearful, not for his own safety, but for that of his
absent commander.
In the mean time, the Skipper, who was known in the Isle of Shepey, and
upon other parts of the coast, by the name of Hugh Dalton, proceeded
uninterruptedly on his way, up and down the small luxuriant hills, and
along the fair valleys of as fertile and beautiful a district as any of
which our England can boast, until a sudden turn brought him close upon
a dwelling of large proportions and disjointed architecture, that
evidently belonged to two distinct eras. The portion of the house
fronting the place on which he stood was built of red brick, and
regularly elevated to three stories in height; the windows were long and
narrow; and the entire of that division was in strict accordance with
the taste of the times, as patronised and adopted by the rulers of the
Commonwealth. Behind, rose several square turrets, and straggling
buildings, the carved and many-paned windows of which were of very
remote date, and evidently formed from the relics of some monastery or
religious house. Here and there, the fancy or interest of the owner had
induced him to remodel the structure; and an ill-designed and ungraceful
mixture of the modern with the ancient gave to the whole somewhat of a
grotesque appearance, that was heightened by the noble trees, which had
once towered in majesty and beauty, being in many places lopped and
docked, as if even the exuberance of nature was a crime in the eyes of
the present lord of the mansion.