and lips that
yet trembled; then vanished from my sight, leaving me first to wonder at
that terror and emotion in her who seldom showed the thing she felt, and
finally to conclude that it was not so wonderful after all.

We sailed on,--southwards to Cuba, then north again to the Lucayas
and the Florida straits, looking for Spanish ships and their gold. The
lights yet burned,--now brightly, now so sunken that it seemed as though
the next hour they must flicker out. We, the players, flagged not in
that desperate masque; but we knew that, in spite of all endeavor, the
darkness was coming fast upon us.

Had it been possible, we would have escaped from the ship, hazarding new
fortunes on the Spanish Main, in an open boat, sans food or water.
But the pirates watched us very closely. They called me "captain" and
"Kirby," and for the jest's sake gave an exaggerated obedience, with
laughter and flourishes; but none the less I was their prisoner,--I and
those I had brought with me to that ship.

An islet, shaped like the crescent moon, rose from out the sea before
us. We needed water, and so we felt our way between the horns of
the crescent into the blue crystal of a fairy harbor. One low hill,
rose-colored from base to summit, with scarce a hint of the green world
below that canopy of giant bloom, a little silver beach with wonderful
shells upon it, the sound of a waterfall and a lazy surf,--we smelt the
fruits and the flowers, and a longing for the land came upon us. Six
men were left on the ship, and all besides went ashore. Some rolled the
water casks toward the sound of the cascade; others plunged into the
forest, to return laden with strange and luscious fruits, birds, guanas,
conies,--whatever eatable thing they could lay hands upon; others
scattered along the beach to find turtle eggs, or, if fortune favored
them, the turtle itself. They laughed, they sang, they swore, until the
isle rang to their merriment. Like wanton children, they called to each
other, to the screaming birds, to the echoing bloom-draped hill.

I spread a square of cloth upon the sand, in the shadow of a mighty tree
that stood at the edge of the forest, and the King's ward took her seat
upon it, and looked, in the golden light of the sinking sun, the very
spirit of the isle. By this we two were alone on the beach. The hunters
for eggs, led by Diccon, were out upon the farthest gleaming horn;
from the wood came the loud laughter of the fruit gatherer