position would be almost sure to drag her anchor and
then would drive on the rocks, but they seemed to have no apprehensions,
and, it was quite evident now, that they were not going back to the
vessel until the next day. The ghastly quality of the night increased,
however. The lightning flared so much and it was so red that it was
uncanny, it even had a supernatural tinge, and the sullen rumbling of
the distant thunder added to it.

The effect upon Robert, situated as he was and alone for many months,
was very great. Something weird, something wild and in touch with the
storm that threatened but did not break, crept into his own blood. He
was filled with hatred and contempt of the men who caroused there. He
wondered what crimes they had committed on those seas, and he had not
the least doubt that the list was long and terrible. He ought to be an
avenging spirit. He wished intensely that Tayoga was with him in the
bush. The Onondaga would be sure to devise some plan to punish them or
to fill them with fear. He felt at that moment as if he belonged to a
superior race or order, and would like to stretch forth his hand and
strike down those who disgraced their kind.

The swart leader at last took note of the skies and their sinister
aspect. Robert saw him walking back and forth and looking up. More than
half of his men were stretched full length, either asleep or in a
stupor, but some of the others stood, and glanced at the skies. Robert
thought he saw apprehension in their eyes, or at least his imagination
put it there.

A wild and fantastic impulse seized him. These men were children of the
sea, superstitious, firm believers in omens, and witchcraft, ready to
see the ghosts of the slain, all the more so because they were stained
with every crime, then committed so freely under the black flag. He had
many advantages, too. He was a master of woodcraft, only their
wilderness was that of the waters.

He gave forth the long, melancholy hoot of the owl, and he did it so
well that he was surprised at his own skill. The note, full of
desolation and menace, seemed to come back in many echoes. He saw the
swart leader and the men with him start and look fearfully toward the
forest that curved so near. Then he saw them talking together and gazing
at the point from which the sound had come. Perhaps they were trying to
persuade themselves the note was only fancy.

Robert laughed softly to himself. He was pleased, immensely pleased