brother's entreaty and was now about to land; but
this had not happened. Only Giuseppe Doria ascended the steps and he
had little to tell.

"They didn't want me yet, so I ran back," he said. "All goes well;
his cavern lies quite near to us. The lamp flashed out only two
miles away and I ran in; and there was the man standing just outside
a small cave on the little beach before it. He cried out a strange
welcome. He said, 'If any other lands but you, Ben, I will shoot
him!' So the master shouted that he was to fear nothing, and he
jumped ashore as soon as our nose touched the sand; then told me to
put off instantly. They went back into the cave together and I am to
return within an hour."

He explained the position of the cave.

"It is above the little beach, revealed at low tide, where cowries
are to be found," he said. "I took Madonna there on an occasion to
gather the little shells for the fancywork the master makes."

"Uncle Ben fashions all sorts of wonderful ornaments out of shells,"
explained Jenny.

Doria smoked some cigarettes and then descended again. In twenty
minutes the boat had gone to sea once more, while Jenny bade Mark
good night and retired. She felt it better not to meet her uncles on
their arrival, and Brendon agreed with her.

CHAPTER VIII

DEATH IN THE CAVE

Alone, Brendon regarded the future with some melancholy, for he
believed that only Chance had robbed him of his great hope. Chance,
so often a valued servant, now, in the mightiest matter of his life,
turned against him. Not for a moment could he or would he compare
himself with the man he now regarded as a successful rival; but
accident had given Doria superb opportunities while denying to
Brendon any opportunity whatever. He told himself, however, that a
cleverer man than he would have made opportunities. What was his
love worth if it could not triumph over the handicaps of Chance?

He felt ruled out, and he had not even the excuse to impose himself
upon Jenny and still seek to win her by pretending that he was
better fitted to make her permanently happy than his rival. Indeed
he knew that in the long run such a cheerful and versatile soul as
Giuseppe was more likely to satisfy Jenny than he, for Doria would
have all his time to devote to her, while marriage and a home must
be only a part of Brendon's future existence. There remained his
work, and he well knew that, whatever Jenny's position and
independence, he would not