eep, but he presently roused himself again.

"I have got to finish, partner, because there's a reason you should hear
it all. By and by Father Herman had to nurse us both, and when I got
better Hattie died. We buried her by torchlight in the dusty mission
yard--she was a Catholic--you'll see the marble cross. I've been lonely
ever since, and that's partly why I sent for you; Peter came next to
Hattie and you are Peter's son. Now I'm ready to pull out and somehow I
think Hattie will find me when I'm wandering in the dark. Love like hers
is strong. But I want you to listen when you have given me another
drink."

Kit held the glass to Adam's cracked lips. He drank and lay still,
breathing hard, and Kit heard the ripple of the tide. The _Rio Negro_ was
getting upright and as the lamp turned in its socket the light moved
across the wall. After a time, Adam resumed in a clearer voice:

"All I have is yours; Mackellar will prove the will, but you'll see
Alvarez out, as I meant to do. Another thing; Mayne will get the old boat
off tomorrow, and when he's loaded up I want you to take me out and land
me on the creek I marked behind Salinas Point. He can fly the flag
half-mast; I'll have started on the lone trail then. You'll hire some
half-breed boys at the _pueblo_ in the swamp, and take me to the mission
and lay me beside my wife. Hattie was a Catholic and you can tell Father
Herman that what she believed was good enough for me. Afterwards, you'll
send him now and then the box of candles he will tell you about. They're
to burn in the little chapel before Our Lady of Sorrows, where Hattie
used to pray I might get well. You'll do this for me?"

"I will," Kit answered with forced quietness. "Then I've finished," said
Adam. "I'm going to sleep now and mayn't talk much again."

He turned his head from the light and presently Kit, hearing him breathe
quietly, went out on deck.

At high-water next day, the _Rio Negro_ floated off the mud and when she
swung to her anchor Kit went into Adam's room. Adam was very weak, but
looked up.

"Get the coffee on board; I'm afraid you won't have time for the next lot
and the rubber," he said. "Tell Finlay to bank his fires. You'll want
steam to take me out."

Kit understood, and nodded because he could not speak, and Adam, giving
him a quiet smile, went to sleep again.

Some hours later, Mayne joined Kit, who had gone on deck for a few
minutes.

"That's the last of the _hacienda Luisa_