my place as watcher while I snatched a
brief hour or two of sleep on his bed.

I was aroused by the clatter of crockery in the living-room, where the
native women were making ready to serve breakfast--for even when the
shadow of Death hovers over a house its inmates must needs eat and
drink; and then one of the natives who every day came over to help with
the work on the cutter, brought the news that the sailing boat had
disappeared, the inference being that Van Ryn had taken her.
Nevertheless, I gave orders that Eden should be thoroughly searched for
him; but he was never found, nor was the boat, and that was the end of
him so far as we were concerned, for we never again heard of him.

When breakfast was ready I tiptoed to the door of my bedroom and
beckoned Billy, who crept softly out, closing the door behind him.

"He is asleep again now," the boy whispered; "but he is dying in peace;
and he wants to see you, Mr Blackburn, before he passes away, that he
may repeat to you the terrible confession that he has made to me."

We took breakfast in silence, for our minds were full of thoughts too
deep for utterance; and when we had finished I resumed my post beside
the dying man's bed. Svorenssen was still asleep--the sleep of utter
exhaustion; but he was very uneasy, and moaning occasionally. About
half an hour later, however, he awoke and, after I had again given him a
stimulant, he stammered and gasped the confession he desired to make.

There is no need to repeat it here word for word. In substance it was
to the effect that Van Ryn had proposed, and he had agreed, that they
two, obtaining entry through the back of the house, should murder me--in
my sleep if possible--arm themselves from the arms chest, and thereafter
impose their will upon poor Billy. The cutter was to be completed and
launched, the treasure shipped aboard her, and the conspirators, with
Billy as forced navigator, were to make their way to some civilised
port, arrived in sight of which, Billy was to be knocked on the head and
hove overboard--exactly as I had suspected--while the two men were to
divide the treasure equally between them. It was a dreadful confession
for a man to make; and I found it bitterly hard to utter the words of
forgiveness that were so piteously pleaded for, but I forced myself to
do so at last; and shortly after noon of that day the man, happy now
and, I believe, at peace with his Maker, passed away. We buried his
body an