this discovery;
then cheerless certitude followed; and, with an incredible simplicity of
submission to ascertained fact, he turned round and struck out for
shore. There was a courage in this which he could not appreciate; the
ignobility of his cowardice wholly occupying him. A strong current set
against him like a wind in his face; he contended with it heavily,
wearily, without enthusiasm, but with substantial advantage; marking his
progress the while, without pleasure, by the outline of the trees. Once
he had a moment of hope. He heard to the southward of him, towards the
centre of the lagoon, the wallowing of some great fish, doubtless a
shark, and paused for a little, treading water. Might not this be the
hangman? he thought. But the wallowing died away; mere silence
succeeded; and Herrick pushed on again for the shore, raging as he went
at his own nature. Ay, he would wait for the shark; but if he had heard
him coming!... His smile was tragic. He could have spat upon himself.

About three in the morning, chance, and the set of the current, and the
bias of his own right-handed body so decided it between them that he
came to shore upon the beach in front of Attwater's. There he sat down,
and looked forth into a world without any of the lights of hope. The
poor diving-dress of self-conceit was sadly tattered! With the fairy
tale of suicide, of a refuge always open to him, he had hitherto
beguiled and supported himself in the trials of life; and behold! that
also was only a fairy tale, that also was folk-lore. With the
consequences of his acts he saw himself implacably confronted for the
duration of life: stretched upon a cross, and nailed there with the iron
bolts of his own cowardice. He had no tears; he told himself no stories.
His disgust with himself was so complete, that even the process of
apologetic mythology had ceased. He was like a man cast down from a
pillar, and every bone broken. He lay there, and admitted the facts, and
did not attempt to rise.

Dawn began to break over the far side of the atoll, the sky brightened,
the clouds became dyed with gorgeous colours, the shadows of the night
lifted. And, suddenly, Herrick was aware that the lagoon and the trees
wore again their daylight livery; and he saw, on board the _Farallone_,
Davis extinguishing the lantern, and smoke rising from the galley.

Davis, without doubt, remarked and recognised the figure on the beach;
or perhaps hesitated to recognise it; fo