eril of rheumatism, seated myself upon the least
dew-sodden boulder that I could find, and proceeded to think out the
momentous communication that had just been made to me.

It was a glorious night. The full moon, some thirty degrees above the
eastern horizon, flashed the whole sea beneath her, outside the reef,
into a vast sheet of tumbling liquid silver, while her beams fell in a
long line of tremulous radiance upon the placid waters of the lagoon,
right up to the edge of the cliff upon which I sat. The sky was
cloudless, and toward the zenith and away down in the west some of the
larger stars beamed with that soft yet brilliant effulgence that is only
to be seen within the tropics, but in her own neighbourhood the stronger
light of the moon had eclipsed them all save the planet Venus that hung
near her, glowing like a silver lamp. So brilliant were the moonbeams
that even the ants, beetles, and other small creeping things that ran
about my feet were distinctly visible, as were the tints of the flowers
that bloomed everywhere, and some of which had the peculiarity of
opening only at night. A soft and gentle breeze was blowing in from the
sea, just strongly enough to stir and rustle the grasses and foliage
about me, and to bring to my ears the deep and ceaseless thunder of the
surf that beat everlastingly upon the distant reef.

The greater part of the Basin was still in shadow, including that where
the _Mercury_ lay, but the moon was high enough for her rays to reach
the upper spars of the ship almost down to her topsail yards, and the
dew-wetted spars and rigging gleamed as though inlaid with wires of
silver. The settlement, temporarily built on the inner shore of the
Basin, was almost as distinctly visible as though it were daylight, its
scattered lights gleaming yellow through the gauze-like mistiness of the
dew-laden atmosphere; and from it the slopes and undulations of the
island delicately receded, until at the peak they assumed almost the
ethereal softness of clouds. It was a glorious scene that the island
presented, slumbering langorously under the brilliant rays of the
tropical moon, more enchanting in some respects than when viewed in the
garish light of the sun; and so strong was the enticement of its beauty
upon me that, but for the dull cramping influence of the doctrines
accepted by the settlers upon which to frame the guiding rules of their
lives, I could without very much difficulty have reconcil