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He had hoped they would siht still do that, once they satisfied themselves that there really was no whisky hidden anywhere near the landing Another possibility had occurred to hily uneasy

It was clear enough from the behavior of the men that they had intended to take the whisky by force--if there had been any And the way Lillywhite had held back, concealing hiistrate to be revealed as having connections with slers and pirates

As it was, since there was no whisky, Roger could report no actual wrong-doing on Lillywhite’s part--it was illegal to deal in contraband, of course, but such arrangements were so common on the coast that the e Lillywhite’s reputation in his own inland county On the other hand, Roger was alone--or Lillywhite thought he was

There was clearly some connection between Lillywhite and Stephen Bonnet--and if Roger and Jaood that it would coed in sufficiently dangerous that he ? He had the uneasy feeling that Lillywhite and Anstruther ht well come to that conclusion

They could simply take him into the marsh, kill him and sink his body, then return to their coone back to Edenton Even if so, and if they could be persuaded to talk--bothcould be proved

There was a lot of thuradually succeeded by , as the sheds were re-searched, and the search then spread to the nearby er that Lillywhite and Anstrutherthe whisky In which case, there was still less to prevent the it now; they would be already prepared for it As for the Russians--would they harht pattering rang on the tin roof of the shed; it was beginning to rain Fine, if their powder got wet, they wouldn’t shoot hi that Ja fervently that he wouldn’t show up too late As to what he ht do if and when he did show up

The swords Were the swords still where they had left therown too loud for hi post and went to look

The Russians all looked up at hiled expressions of wariness and concern He set them out of the way Yes, the swords were still there--that was soe of hope

Che in a slurred voice, and Karina got up at once and caently on the arm, then took one of the swords fro whoosh that h nervously She wrapped her hands round the hilt and held it over her shoulder, like a baseball bat She marched over to the door and took up her station beside it, scowling fiercely

"Great," Roger said, and gave her a broad smile of approval "Anyone pokes his head in, take it off, aye?" Hemotion with the side of his hand, and the Russians allsounds of enthusiastic support One of the younger girls reached for the other sword, but he smiled and indicated that he would keep it, thanks anyway

To his surprise, she shook her head, saying so in Russian He raised his eyebrows and shook his head helplessly She tugged on his arm, and made him come with her, back toward the corner

They had been busy during the brief period of their captivity They had moved aside the rubbish, made a coe trapdoor installed in the floor,under the wharf at low tide, so that cargo could be handed directly up into the shed, rather than unloaded onto the dock

The tide was going out now; it was a drop of more than six feet to the water’s dark surface He stripped to his breeks and hung by his hands fro in feetfirst, not wanting to risk a dive into what her than his head, though; he sank in a shower of silver bubbles, then his feet touched the sandy botto the surface with a whoosh of air He waved reassuringly at the circle of Russian faces peering down at hih the trapdoor, then struck out for the far end of the wharf

FROM HIS PERCH ON the roof of the shed, Ja, and the manner in which he fondled the weapon Lillywhite turned away, his hand nervously caressing the hilt of his sword A long reach, and a good bearing; quick, too, if a little jerky To wear a sword under these circuested both a habit of familiarity with the weapon and a fondness for it

He couldn’t see Anstruther, who had pressed hi of the roof, but he was less concerned with the Sheriff A brawler, that one, and short in the arm

"I say we kill therunt of dubious assent from Lillywhite

"That may be--but the men? We do not wish to put our fate in the hands of witnesses who may talk We could have dealt with Fraser and MacKenzie safely out of sight--but so manyperhaps we ners and seelish"