my dear father's declining years; and perhaps, with
the aid of my wealth, I may be able to do enough good to obliterate the
memory of all the grief and shame that I have caused him to suffer.
That is my story, Troubridge; and all that I will add to it is this: If
ever you feel tempted to stray, though ever so slightly, from the path
of rectitude, think of the man whom you once knew as George Gurney; and
let his history serve as a warning to you. And now I will say good
night; for we must be stirring early to-morrow."

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

ONCE MORE IN OPEN WATER.

I slept anything but soundly that night, fearing that, if I abandoned
myself too completely to the influence of the drowsy god, I might not
awake early enough in the morning to ensure the accomplishment of all
that was to be done next day--for we had to hoist the boat, make sail,
and traverse some forty-five miles of winding channel through the reef
in order to reach open water before darkness overtook us. But although
I was astir with the first signs of the coming dawn, I found, upon going
out on deck, that Gurney and Saunders were before me. They too, it
appeared, had been too anxious to do more than doze restlessly and
intermittently through the hot night, and finally, as though by mutual
consent, had turned out about an hour before daylight and, after softly
pacing the main deck together, chatting and smoking for about half an
hour, had gone forward, lighted the galley fire, and proceeded to
prepare an early breakfast, in order that we might all be ready to turn-
to the moment that we had light enough to see what we were about. When
I went forward and looked into the galley--the light from which had
attracted my attention the instant that I emerged from the cabin--I was
greeted with the mingled aromas of boiling cocoa and frying bacon, as
well as with the cheery "good morning!" of the two men who were bending
over the galley stove; but I had scarcely had time to exchange greetings
with them when the fourth member of our party, awakened by my movements
while dressing, made her appearance and promptly assumed charge of the
culinary operations. This left the three males of the party free to
tackle the more arduous duties of the day; and we forthwith proceeded to
unrig the boat and make her ready for hoisting. By the time that this
task had been advanced to the point of hooking on and hauling taut the
davit-tackles, we were summoned to breakfast, an