"I thought you would be glad I had brought away the bright stones," she
said. "But if they are unlucky I will cast them into the sea."
"Nay, Melannie," I answered. "Keep them, for they will make you the
richest among the women of your own country. But do not show them to
anyone or let it be known that you have them with you, should we fall
in with a passing ship, or they may cause our ruin, perhaps our death."
Melannie seemed to understand me, but her pleasure in the bright stones
had received a check since her display of them had brought a rebuke
from my lips.
CHAPTER XXIII
AT THE MERCY OF THE SEA
When morning broke on the day after our escape from the burning island
we shaped a course with the wind, for I had no fixed purpose, and our
only hope of returning to civilization lay in a chance meeting with
some passing vessel. Yet I knew how remote that chance would be. The
sea in these latitudes was not in the course of trade between any of
the countries of the known world, and voyages of discovery such as
those undertaken by Dirk Hartog and other navigators of the time were
few and far between. Still I conceived it to be my duty to make the
best use of the means which Providence had placed in my hands of
returning to home and friends, and as the cutter danced over the waves,
and the salt spray moistened our faces, I felt my spirits rise.
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