Page:Doctor Syn - A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh.djvu/306

 The song turned into a scream of agony. There was the noise of a soul-sickening thud, and something leaped through the cabin door, tumbling Mr. Mipps all over in a heap. The three pistols of the King's men flashed, another scream tore the air, and a tall figure sprang high into the night and disappeared into the sea.

"It's Clegg! It's Syn!" shouted one of the King's men.

"And we've shot that damned little sexton, too!" shouted another, for Mipps lay flat on his face, with his fingers outstretched upon the deck.

Collyer rushed into the cabin, while the men reloaded a pistol in case the head of Doctor Syn should rise from the sea.

"Bring a light!" shouted the captain.

The cabin was small, but larger than might have been expected from the size of the craft. When a lantern had been passed through, it showed a little room whose walls were the sides of the boat. On one side was a heavy little flap table, fixed into the ribs of the boat with rusty iron sockets. Upon this table, flat down on his face, indeed in the very position that Morgan Walters had appeared upon the vestry table, was Doctor Syn.

"My God!" cried the captain. "Look at the face!" The dead face pressed against the table was indeed a face of horror, for driven right through the neck was Clegg's harpoon, and the hideous grin on the Doctor's