and there are
men, thank God, to do it."

You say that it was a boast; aye, perhaps it was that, yet what a
boast! For think of it. Here at the very moment when it appeared that
our lives were at Czerny's mercy, at this very moment when we must look
to his cruel hand for succour or sleep in the death-pit of the island,
there comes this message from the sea and the devils go out. There is
not a sound in the house, and I know that my comrades are waiting for
my word. I have three brave men behind me; the peril fires my blood so
that, man or devil against me, I care nothing for either. Was it a
boast for a man to stake all on a throw at such an hour? Not so, truly,
but just what any English seaman would have done, saying, "All or
nothing, the day or the night," as chance should decide for him.

Now, my hand was upon the key when I told little Ruth that it was men's
work, and without waiting to hear her wise displeasure I opened the
door and stepped out into the silent hall. One man alone kept watch
there, and he was in the shadows, so that I could not see his face or
tell if he were armed. I knew that this man was the first between me
and my liberty, and without a moment's hesitation I crossed the hall;
and aware of all the risks I took, understanding that a word of mine
might bring the guard down from the sea, I clapped a pistol to the
sentry's head and let him know my pleasure.

"Open that gate, Benno Regnarte!" said I.

He was a short man, burly, with curly hair, and not an unpleasant face.
So quick had I come upon him, so strange, perhaps, he thought it that I
named him at hazard, that he fell back against the iron and stood there
gaping like one who had seen a bogey in the dark. Never, I believe, in
all this world was a seaman so frightened. He could not speak or utter
a sound, or even raise his hand. He just stood there like a shivering
fool.

"Benno Regnarte, open that gate!" I repeated, seeing that I had the
name all right; "I'll give you half a minute."

The threat brought him to his senses. Without a word, a sign, a sound,
he opened the iron doors and waited for me to go through.

"Now," said I, "give me those keys and march on. And by the heaven
above me, if you open your lips far enough for a fly to go in, I'll
shoot you dead where you stand!"

He gave me the keys with a hand that trembled so that he nearly dropped
them. In spite of my injunction he mumbled something, and I was not
unwilling to hear