blew out the light, for I did not want to
guide the aim of some unknown marksman shooting at me from the dark; and
then I thought of that gaunt strangler that sprang on marbleworkers in
the gloom; yet it could not be the Mandrive, for surely he would know his
own passages better than to stumble in them in the dark. It was more
likely to be one of the hue and cry who had smelt us out, and hoped
perhaps to be able to reconnoitre without being perceived on so awful a
night. Whenever Elzevir went out foraging, he carried with him that
silver-butted pistol which had once been Maskew's, but left behind the
old rook-piece. We had plenty of powder and slugs now, having obtained a
store of both from Ratsey, and Elzevir had bid me keep the matchlock
charged, and use it or not after my own judgement, if any came to the
cave; but gave as his counsel that it was better to die fighting than to
swing at Dorchester, for that we should most certainly do if taken. We
had agreed, moreover, on a pass-word, which was _Prosper the
Bonaventure_, so that I might challenge betimes any that I heard coming,
and if they gave not back this countersign might know it was not Elzevir.

So now I reached out for the piece, which lay beside me on the floor, and
scrambled to my feet; lifting the deckle in the darkness, and feeling
with my fingers in the pan to see 'twas full of powder.

The lull in the storm still lasted, and I heard the footsteps
advancing, though with uncertain slowness, and once after a heavy
stumble I thought I caught a muttereth oath, as if someone had struck
his foot against a stone.

Then I shouted out clear in the darkness a 'Who goes there?' that rang
again through the stone roofs. The footsteps stopped, but there was no
answer. 'Who goes there?' I repeated. 'Answer, or I fire.'

'_Prosper the Bonaventure_,' came back out of the darkness, and I knew
that I was safe. 'The devil take thee for a hot-blooded young bantam to
shoot thy best friend with powder and ball, that he was fool enough to
give thee'; and by this time I had guessed 'twas Master Ratsey, and
recognized his voice. 'I would have let thee hear soon enough that 'twas
I, if I had known I was so near thy lair; but 'tis more than a man's life
is worth to creep down moleholes in the dark, and on a night like this.
And why I could not get out the gibberish about the _Bonaventure_ sooner,
was because I matched my shin to break a stone, and lost the wager and my
breath tog