y--much to his satisfaction, for he had feared
they might rush him before he had time to reload.

He had dropped flat after firing and recharged his gun as he lay. He was
sure they must have come armed, and feared a volley as soon as his own
discharge indicated his whereabouts.

As a matter of fact, they had come divided as to the truth of the report
that there was a man on L'Etat--even then as to him being the man they
sought. In any case, they had expected to take him unawares, and never
dreamt of his being armed and on the watch for them.

Thanks to Nance, he had turned the tables on them. It was they who were
taken unawares.

But if he spoke again, he said to himself, they would be ready for him,
and their answers would probably take the rude form of bullets. So he
lay still and waited.

There was a growling disputation in the boat. Then one spoke--

"See then, you, Gard! We will haff you yet, now we know where you are.
If it takes effery man and effery boat in Sark, we will haff you, now we
know where you are. You do not kill a Sark man like that and go free.
Noh--pardie!"

"I have killed no man--" A gun rang out in the boat, and the shot
spatted on the rocks not a yard from him.

Coming in, they knew, meant certain death for one among them, and, keen
as they were to lay hands on him, no man had any wish to be that one.

The oars creaked away into the darkness, and he climbed to the ridge to
make sure they made no attempt on the other side.

But discretion had prevailed. One man could not hold L'Etat from
invasion at half-a-dozen points at once. They could bide their time, and
take him by force of numbers.

He heard them go creaking off towards the Creux, and turned and went
back along the ridge to find Nance.

CHAPTER XXVII

HOW ONE CAME TO HIM LIKE AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN

Nance was standing by the shelter, and even in the darkness he could
tell that she was shaking, in spite of her previous vigorous incitement
to defence.

"You--you didn't kill any of them?" she asked anxiously.

"No, dear. I warned them off and fired into the water to show them I was
armed."

"I was afraid. But, there were two shots."

"One of them fired back the next time I spoke, but I was expecting it."

"They are wicked, wicked men, and cruel."

"They are mistaken, that's all. But it comes to much the same thing, and
I don't see," he said despondently, "how we are ever to prove it to
them."

"They will come