Page:Frank Packard - Greater Love Hath No Man.djvu/271

 it seemed almost as though she could hear it. She pressed her hand to her side and held it there a moment; then, closing the bedroom door noiselessly, she gathered up the skirts of her cloak and dress, crept down the stairs, made her way to the front door and out into the street.

It was intensely dark—a hurried glance about her showed her that not a light was burning in the village—only the boom of the surf seemed to fill the night.

She went quickly down the street. Five minutes brought her to the rendezvous, and she stopped before the church.

"Here I be," announced Jonah Sully, stepping out from the porch. "Ain't no one seen you up to the house, have they?"

"No," said Janet. "No—it's all right."

"An' I got it," declared Jonah Sully gleefully. "Yes; I reckon my luck's turned. Hooked it, by crickey!"

"You mean the file and bar and lantern?"—Janet nodded her head.

"More'n that," chuckled Captain Sully. "Got the key for the padlock—hooked it from the cap'n of the coast-guard—'pears he's kind of chief magistrate an' head of the fire department an' I dunno but some other things. Anyway, he had the keys an' I borrowed it outer his clothes on the way out. Might as well move along, hadn't we?"

"Just a minute"—Janet took the money from her cloak and held it toward him. "Here is a little money that I want you to make Varge take—as a loan from you, you understand?"

"Got my hands full," said the skipper; "lantern an'