s of
the land with ten guineas in his pocket? Get locked up for breaking the
peace? Blab of us in his cups and start the Customs on our trail? There
was no end to such conjectures, and I made myself so melancholy that I
was fool enough to think that the treasure was no better than a curse,
and that on the whole I was better off on the ice than here with the
anchor in English ground and my native soil within gunshot.

I was up and about till midnight, and then, being in the cabin and
exhausted, I fell asleep across the table, and in that posture lay as
one dead. Some one dragging at my arm, with very little tenderness,
awoke me. I was in the midst of a dream of the schooner having been
boarded by a party of French privateersmen, with Tassard at their head,
and the roughness with which I was aroused was exactly calculated to
extend into my waking the horror and grief of my sleep.

I instantly sprang to my feet and saw Washington Cromwell.

"Massa Rodney," he bawled, "Massa Rodney, de gent's 'longside--him an'
Wilkinson--yaas, by de good Lord--dey'se both dere! Dey hail me an' I
answer and say who are you, and dey say are you de _Boca_? We am, I say,
and dey say----"

I had stood stupidly staring at him, but my full understanding coming
to me on a sudden, I jumped to the ladder and darted on deck. I heard
voices over the starboard side and ran there. It was not so dark
but that I could see the outline of a Deal lugger. Whilst I was
peering, the voice of my man Wilkinson cried out, "On deck, there!
Cromwell--Billy--where's Mr. Rodney?"

"Here I am!" cried I.

"My God, Paul!" exclaimed the voice of Mr. Mason, "this encounter is
fortunate indeed."

I shouted to the negroes to show a light, and in a few minutes Mr.
Mason, Wilkinson, and a couple of Deal boatmen came over the side. I
grasped my relative by both hands. I had not seen him for four years.

"This is good of you, indeed!" I cried. "But you must be perished with
the cold of that open boat. Come below at once--come Wilkinson, and you
men--there's a fire in the cook-room and drink to warm us;" and down I
bundled in the wildest condition of excitement, followed by Mason and
the others.

My relative was warmly clad and did not seem to suffer from the cold. He
took me by the hand and brought me to the lanthorn-light, and stood
viewing me.

"Ay," said he, "you are your old self: a bit worried looking, but
that'll pass. Stout and burnt. Odd's heart! Paul, if yo