As the night wore on, the clamour dulled; the roisterers were surely drunken or wearied; few seemed astir.  I heard the mumble of voices still from the room below me; occasionally the shred of a chanty from the kitchen; at times, the clatter of shoes over the cobbles of the yard, and the outcry of the hound.  But ever the wind blew through the night, seeming to cry to me concerning great waters storm-tossed, whereon I should be sailing after this night to the port of no return.  Night drew toward the hour before dawn; the moon was long since lost in massing clouds packed high against the heaven by the wind.  Lord, ho............