The Buccaneer Farmer, page 169 by Harold Bindloss
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fter putting down the coffin in a room where vines crawled about the ruined wall, the sailors entered the next. One frankly stated that they wanted to get away from the coffin; Kit could stop and watch it if he liked, but it bothered them to have the thing about.
Kit let them go, and sitting down in a corner among the rubbish lighted a cigar. A moonbeam rested on the opposite wall and the room was not dark. Some light came in through holes, although there was impenetrable gloom beyond the door by which the men had gone. He could see the wet leaves of the vines, and the black coffin, covered by the flag. But he was not afraid of it; the man who lay there had been his friend and claimed the fulfilment of his promise.
At the same time, it was soothing to hear the sailors' voices, until they got faint and stopped. Afterwards the silence was burdensome, although a small creature began to rustle in the wall. Kit did not know if it was a snake or a spider, and was too tired to feel disturbed. By and by his cigar fell from his mouth. He picked it up, but it fell again and his head drooped.
The moonbeam had moved some distance when he opened his eyes and straightened his body with a jerk. The room was nearly dark, and when he thought about it afterwards, he imagined he was only half awake, for his heart beat and he was conscious of an enervating fear. A dark object, indistinct but like a man, stood beside the coffin.
With something of an effort, Kit recovered his self-control as the figure turned and came towards him. It moved with a curious stealthy gait, making no noise, and this was enough for Kit. He had no grounds for distrusting the sailors, and they wore heavy boots. Trying not to change his position, he felt for his automatic pistol. The butt caught a fold of his sash and he was forced to bend his elbow in order to get it out. It looked as if he would be too late, and he slipped as the movement dislodged the rubbish on which he sat. Then, as he shrank with an instinctive quiver from the