The windows of the great house above, which earlier in the evening had blazed with lights, were now darkened, and the distant sounds of voices and laughter had entirely ceased.

The only noise discernible as I lay quiet was the soft lapping of waves against the side of the sloop or about the piling supporting the wharf to which we were moored.

The others must have fallen asleep immediately, but my own mind remained far too active to enable me to lose consciousness.

At last, despairing of slumber, and perchance urged by some indistinct premonition of danger, I sat up once more and gazed about.

The three men were lying not far apart, close in to the galley wall, merely dark, shapeless shadows, barely to be distinguished in the gloom.