can't be an hour since he was killed," said Simon, whose hand was
trembling. And he added, "What the deuce brought the fellow here? By
what unheard-of chance have I come upon a Redskin in this desert?"

The dead man's pockets contained no papers to give Simon any
information. But, near the body, within the actual space in which the
struggle had taken place, another trail of footsteps came to an end, a
double trail, made by the patterned rubber soles of a man who had come
and gone. And, ten yards away, Simon picked up a gold hundred-franc
piece, with the head of Napoleon I. and the date 1807.

He followed this double trail, which led him to the edge of the sea.
Here a boat had been put aground. It was now easy to reconstruct the
tragedy. Two men who had landed on this newly-created shore had set
out to explore it, each taking his own direction. One of them, an
Indian, had found, in the hulk of some wreck, a certain quantity of
gold coins, perhaps locked up in a strong-box. The other, to obtain
the treasure for himself, had murdered his companion, and reembarked.

Thus, on this virgin soil, Simon was confronted--it was the first sign
of life--with a crime, with an act of treachery, with armed cupidity
committing murder, with the human animal. A man finds gold. One of
his fellows attacks and kills him.

Simon pushed onwards without further delay, feeling certain that these
two men, doubtless bolder than the rest, were only the forerunners of
others coming from the mainland. He was eager to see these others, to
question them upon the point whence they had started, the distance
which they had covered and many further particulars which as yet
remained unexplained.

The thought of this meeting filled him with such happiness that he
resisted his longing for rest. Yet what a torture was this almost
uninterrupted effort! He had walked for sixteen hours since leaving
Dieppe. It was eighteen hours since the moment when the great upheaval
had driven him from his home. In ordinary times the effort would not
have been beyond his strength. But under what lamentable conditions
had he accomplished it!

He walked on and on. Rest? And what if the others, coming behind him
from Dieppe, should succeed in catching him up?

The scene was always the same. Wrecks marked his path, like so many
tomb-stones. The mist still hung above the endless grave-yard.

After walking an hour, he was brought to a stop. The sea barred his
way.

The s