The Riddle Of The Sands - Childers Robert Erskine ... - Cove Systems

From Davies toiling below there were muffled
sounds of wrenching, pushing, and
hammering, punctuated occasionally by a
heavy splash as something shot up from the
hatchway and fell into the water.
How it came about I do not know. Whether it
was something pathetic in the look I had last
seen on his face--a look which I associated for
no reason whatever with his bandaged hand;
whether it was one of those instants of clear
vision in which our separate selves are seen
divided, the baser from the better, and I saw
my silly egotism in contrast with a simple
generous nature; whether it was an impalpable
air of mystery which pervaded the whole
enterprise and refused to be dissipated by its
most mortifying and vulgarizing incidents--a
mystery dimly connected with my companion's
obvious consciousness of having misled me
into joining him; whether it was only the stars
and the cool air rousing atrophied instincts of
youth and spirits; probably, indeed, it was all
these influences, cemented into strength by a