!"

At the words "work to do" a strange silence, which I did not then
understand, fell on the company. Somehow, all the men immediately
around me slunk away, and I found myself standing quite alone, with
many staring at me. The four men whom most I feared had turned their
backs, and were busy with their mugs; but the rest of the assembly had
eyes only for the terrible woman and for myself. Presently the
discordant music began again. The hag, who had been bent double, reared
herself up with a "Ho!" after the fashion of a Scottish sword-dancer,
and began to make a wretched shuffle with her feet. Then she moved with
a hobble and a jig to the far end of the room; and she called out,
beginning to come straight down to the door whereby I stood. I know not
what presentiment forewarned me to beware as the creature drew near;
but yet I felt the danger, and the throbbing of my heart. That I could
hope for help amongst such a crew was out of the question. I had my
revolver in my pocket, but had I shown it twenty barrels would have
answered the folly. There was nothing to do but to face the screeching
woman; and this I did as the unearthly music became louder, and the
stillness of the men was speaking in its depth.

At the last, the old witch, who had danced for some moments at a
distance of ten paces from the spot where I stood, became as one
possessed. She made a few dreadful antics, uttered a piercing shriek,
and hurled herself almost on me. In that instant I remember seeing the
three men with Paolo suddenly rise to their feet, while the others in
the room called out in their excitement. But the hag herself drew from
her breast something that she had concealed there; and, as she stood
within a yard of me, she brought it crash upon my head, and all my
senses left me.

CHAPTER XIII.

ASTERN OF THE "LABRADOR."

Complete unconsciousness is a blessing, I think, which comes rarely to
us. Sleep, they say, is akin to death; yet I have often questioned if
there be an absolute void of existence in sleep; and I am sure that in
few cases where a blow robs us of sense does the brain cease to be
active or to bring dreams in its working. I have been struck down
unconscious twice in my life; but in each instance I have suffered much
during the after-days from that trouble of mind which is akin to the
feverish dream of an exhausted system. Horrid sights does the brain
then bear to us; terrible situations; weird phantoms known to th