THE LIGHTHOUSE

'Three men were drowned where we are now,' saidthe old man. He had seen them clinging to the masthimself. And Mr. Ramsay taking a look at the spotwas about, James and Cam were afraid, to burst out:But I beneath a rougher sea,and if he did, they could not bear it; they would shriekaloud; they could not endure another explosion ofthe passion that boiled in him; but to their surpriseall he said was ‘Ah’ as if he thought to himself, Butwhy make a fuss about that? Naturally men aredrowned in a storm, but it is a perfectly straightfor-ward affair, and the depths of the sea (he sprinkled thecrumbs from his sandwich paper over them) are onlywater after all. Then having lighted his pipe he tookout his watch. He looked at it attentively; he made,perhaps, some mathematical calculation. At last hesaid, triumphantly:

‘Well done!’ James had steered them like a bornsailor.

There! Cam thought, addressing herself silently toJames. You’ve got it at last. For she knew that thiswas what James had been wanting, and she knew thatnow he had got it he was so pleased that he would notlook at her or at his father or at any one. There hesat with his hand on the tiller sitting bolt upright,looking rather sulky and frowning slightly. He wasso pleased that he was not going to let anybody takeaway a grain of his pleasure. His father had praisedhim. They must think that he was perfectly indiffer-ent. But you’ve got it now, Cam thought.

They had tacked, and they were sailing swiftly,buoyantly on long rocking waves which handed them239
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