t this very moment; for it must be the same." He
said nothing, however; and the dying man resumed:

"You have therefore no rival to fear except Jose himself; and if you
should destroy his ship and himself--as I hope your captain will do when
you have told him my story--you will be certain of vast wealth, provided
that you can translate the cipher, which I believe you will certainly be
able to do, for all that Jose says as to its impossibility without the
key. Now I am exhausted with talking so much. Please give me a little
more brandy." Roger did so, finding the man too weak to lift the mug to
his lips, and almost too far gone to swallow. Having recovered
somewhat, he continued in a weak voice, taking a packet from his pocket:
"And now, here is the packet of papers, and the cipher is with them.
Keep them safely by you, and part with them under no circumstances or
conditions whatever. If you do this your fortune is certain."

He ceased speaking, and his head fell heavily back on his hard couch.

Roger sprang for more brandy, and lifted the poor fellow's head, but he
appeared lifeless. Roger wetted his lips with the spirit, and presently
they parted sufficiently to enable the lad to pour a little into his
mouth. This was gradually swallowed, and Roger poured in a little more,
which was also taken; and in a few seconds a heavy sigh escaped the lips
of the sufferer, and his eyes opened. But there was a glaze over them
that told its own tale. The white lips opened, and Roger, bending down,
heard the last words that Evans ever spoke.

"God bless you, sir," he said, "and keep you safe! Keep your promise to
me, sir. Good-bye! I die now, and am glad!" The eyes went duller
still, the lips ceased to move, the body seemed to stiffen, and grew
suddenly cold. Roger knew that the end had come, that the poor fellow's
troubles were at last over, and that he was at rest.

Roger remained for some moments sitting, and lost in thought; then,
rising, he placed the blanket over the dead man's face and went outside
the hut. He determined to go and find his two sailors, and inform them
of what had happened, so that they might come and assist him in burying
the body at once; for in that climate it was necessary to bury a body as
soon as possible after death, for sanitary reasons.

The lad had not gone very far from the hut when he remembered that he
was still holding the packet of papers in his hand; so he slipped them
into