that the
castaway made no effort, either with the sail or the oars, to shape a
course in any direction. He appeared to have abandoned hope, and to
have made up his mind to let the wind and the waves carry him
whithersoever they would. At length the boat appeared but a speck upon
the ocean, and finally it vanished beyond the horizon.

For some time after the quelling of the mutiny Hartog maintained strict
discipline among officers and crew, issuing his orders in the
peremptory manner of one accustomed to command, and seldom speaking to
any except upon matters connected with the ship. But when order was
restored his mood changed, and we resumed our friendly chats together
in the cabin. He never referred to Van Luck, whom he seemed to have
wiped from the slate of his recollection, nor did he again allude to
the mutiny. Once, when I touched upon it, he had cut me short, and I
could see from his manner that all reference to it must henceforth be
taboo. But I could not help sometimes recalling the picture of the boat
with the solitary man on board of her, drifting upon the grey waste of
sea, and I often wondered if Dirk Hartog had been able to obliterate
that picture from his mind.

We now once more sailed in familiar waters, and passed many vessels as
we neared home, where we arrived, without mishap, towards the end of
the year 1620, after an absence of nearly five years, which was not
regarded at that time as a voyage of unusual duration.

CHAPTER X

I EMBARK ON A SECOND VOYAGE

On my arrival at Amsterdam I obtained leave from my master, De Decker,
to visit my parents, and was received by them at my home at Urk with a
great show of affection, which, however, I found to be somewhat
lessened when it was known I had come back with empty pockets. My
father urged me to give up the sea, and to stick more closely to the
business of a merchant at Amsterdam, for which my education had fitted
me, and my mother extorted from me a half-willing promise that I would
follow my father's advice. I also met Anna Holstein, to whom I related
my adventures; nor did I conceal from her that my worldly condition was
not yet sufficiently improved to warrant my making formal proposals for
her hand in marriage.

My mother pronounced my appearance much improved, when she heard of my
attachment to Anna she declared me to be a fit mate for any lady in the
land.

"Of a truth, Peter," she said, "thou art become a proper man, like thy
fathe