Presently the wind fell, and we lay well-nigh becalmed, and the moon came out, and we could see now the high walls of Sark and the steep side of Brecquou, and slowly we approached thither.  So we ran straight to Jersey.  The moon set presently, and we made little way, and with the light of breaking dawn we entered a small creek, wherein the water lay calm and still.  When the boat was in safety we clambered upon the rocks, and among them Simon showed a little cave overhung with green streaming plants that indeed was a pleasant place, with all manner of coloured sea-plants clinging to the wall, that the light as it entered played upon.  Here we ate of the good store that lay in the boat’s locker, and a rare draught of wine washed down the food and refreshed our spirits, and then Simon bade me lie down and rest, and as the sun began to climb up and make all the sea glisten along its crest, I lay down and slept, and awaked not till he had climbed far up into the sky.  But when I awoke old Simon Renouf still sat by the cave-mouth, gazing out to sea from under his looming brows, and I thought he sat there like some great eagle by its eyrie keeping watch over its young.  And such indeed he was, an eagle soaring high in fidelity, and my guardian to the death, as in the end it appeared.

Now, as evening drew near, Simon showed us that with an early start that night, with good weather as the wind lay, we would make the Norman coast ere morning, and creep along as we might to Port Granville by daylight.

But alas! that night we had but just shot out of our hermitage amid the rocks, and were giving great heed to the perilous passage withal, when, as we rounded a sudden shelve of rock, we met almost face to face a great ship that was making across our course.  And I feared that the worst would hap, for she was of the same build as the fleet of Le Grand Sarrasin.  Did they see us lying in now close by the rock?  We could not tell for a moment, but then there was no doubt.  A shout rang out, and a voice bidding us come aside.

What could men so bidden do?  To sail forth were hopeless.  This great craft would overhaul us of an instant.  To coast along the shore were perilous and must end in capture.  For a moment Simon hesitated, and then ran our boat into the creek again.

“See, lads,” he said, “here we must stand.  The land is more friendly than the water.  Yet I have prayed oft to die on the sea, when my time came.”

We climbed on to the rocks, and he handed us a cutlass apiece and a knife such as seamen use, and he pointed to a square ledge of rock, that but one could enter upon at a time, since a thick jagged wall protected half the front.

“Stay, Simon,” said I, “art sure she is a pirate?”

“Ay, lad, sure,” he said; “none but a pirate so hails peaceable fisher craft”

“Simon,” I said, “why not give in?  Why should you and the lad die for me?”

The old man laid his rugged hand upon me, and the sun lit up with a rich light his red beard as he spoke.