They sat for some little time without speaking; then Richard Tresidder
spoke again.

"You are a bit in love with her, arn't you, Nick?"

"More than a little bit, and she knows it, too."

"Well, be careful, my boy, be very careful. If we can get Trevose--well,
it's a nice thing, isn't it? But we must be careful. You are no fool,
Nick; Naomi has her little weaknesses like other folks; find 'em out and
humour 'em. Now you know how things are, and we must be going or we
shall be caught by the tide. There'll be a high tide to-night, too."

Then they went away, leaving me to think over what they had said, and I
must confess that my mind was much disturbed by their words. I do not
pretend to have the lawyer-like power of seeing where many things lead
to, but I did see, or rather I fancied I saw, the meaning of the
conversation I had heard, and which, according to the best of my
ability, I have faithfully described. I saw that Naomi was brought to
this house because of her money. I saw, too, that every sort of pressure
would be brought to bear upon her to make her marry Nick Tresidder, and
I felt assured that did not fair means succeed, foul ones would be used.
And what troubled me most was that I could do nothing. Evidently the
Tresidders were still searching for me, and, if I were caught, they
would, in spite of the friends I still possessed, try to render me more
helpless than ever.

Besides, how would the poor, helpless maid be able to resist the
pleadings of Nick Tresidder, backed up as they would be by the cunning
and stratagem of the woman who had caused my grandfather to disinherit
his own son? These questions, as may be imagined, greatly exercised my
mind, so much so that I forgot all about my plans to travel through the
night to Fowey and to try and get a berth as a sailor on a trading
vessel.

Presently night came on, and I felt faint and weak. Then I remembered
that I had eaten nothing for many hours, and so I turned with great
gladness of heart to the food which I believe Naomi had brought with her
own hands to the rocks which stood at the foot of the cliff under the
mouth of my hiding-place. When I had eaten I went into the inner cave,
and lay a-thinking again and again of what I must do. I recalled to mind
the words that had passed between Naomi and me, of the joy I had felt
when she was by my side, and especially of the time when I held her
hands in mine; and then I thought of what I had heard spoken bet