something dark upon the water. It wasn't
a ship, that was certain, and if it was a boat there wasn't any one in
it; but it was too dark to make quite sure what it was. I watched it for
a time, though I did not think much of the thing, taking it for a boat
that had got adrift, or maybe a barrel from one of the Turkish ships.
Presently I made out that it was a good bit nearer than when I first saw
it.

"That puzzled me. There is no tide to speak of in these seas, and there
was no wind moving about. I could make out now that it was a boat,
though a very small one, but certainly there was no one rowing it. It
looked a very strange craft, and as I saw by the way it was bearing that
it would come ashore about five or six fathoms from where I was sitting,
I slid quietly off the rock, put my sword down by me handy for action,
and waited. Presently the boat came up alongside the rock, and a fellow
stood up from behind the stern. I was glad to see him, for I had begun
to think that there was witchcraft in the thing moving along by itself,
but I can tell you I was savage with myself for not having guessed there
was a man swimming behind and pushing it on.

"He stooped over the boat, and took something heavy out; then he felt
about among the rocks under the water, and then laid the thing down
there, and seemed to me to be settling it firm. I had half a mind to
jump up and let fly at him, but then I thought it would be better to let
him finish what he was doing, and go off with the idea that no one had
seen him. So I kept hid until he started again. He waded a short way
before he had to swim, and I could see that as he went he was paying out
a rope over the stern. It was clear enough now what he had been up to:
he had been fixing an anchor. What he did it for, or what use it could
be to him, I could not say, but it was certain that he would not take
all that trouble, with the chance of being knocked on the head, for
nothing; so I waited for a bit till he had got out of sight, and over to
the other side of the port.

"Then I got up and felt about, and, chancing to get my foot under the
rope, went right over into the water. After that you may guess I was not
long in finding the anchor. I unknotted the rope from it and carried it
ashore; then it struck me that the Turks might take it into their heads
to give a pull on it in the morning, and if they did; they would find
out that their game, whatever it was, had been found out; so I go