with him from Egypt. And yet how
penuriously we were living until we came to this cottage! And with all
this treasure he would have poisoned my Philip for more! God forgive
him!"

Having counted the gold, which amounted to nearly fifty thousand
guilders, the whole was replaced, and they left the room.

"I am a rich man," thought Philip, after Amine had left him; "but
of what use are riches to me? I might purchase a ship and be my own
captain, but would not the ship be lost? That certainly does not
follow; but the chances are against the vessel; therefore I will have
no ship. But is it right to sail in the vessels of others with this
feeling?--I know not; this, however, I know, that I have a duty to
perform, and that all our lives are in the hands of a kind Providence,
which calls us away when he thinks fit. I will place most of my money
in the shares of the Company, and if I sail in their vessels, and they
come to misfortune by meeting with my poor father, at least I shall
be a common sufferer with the rest. And now to make my Amine more
comfortable."

Philip immediately made a great alteration in their style of living.
Two female servants were hired: the rooms were more comfortably
furnished; and in everything in which his wife's comfort and
convenience were concerned, he spared no expense. He wrote to
Amsterdam and purchased several shares in the Company's stock. The
diamonds and his own money he still left in the hands of Amine. In
making these arrangements the two months passed rapidly away, and
everything was complete when Philip again received his summons, by
letter, to desire that he would join his vessel. Amine would have
wished Philip to go out as a passenger instead of going as an officer,
but Philip preferred the latter, as otherwise he could give no reason
for his voyage to India.

"I know not why," observed Philip, the evening before his departure,
"but I do not feel as I did when I last went away; I have no
foreboding of evil this time."

"Nor have I," replied Amine; "but I feel as if you would be long away
from me, Philip; and is not that an evil to a fond and anxious wife?"

"Yes, love, it is; but--"

"O yes, I know it is your duty, and you must go," replied Amine,
burying her face in his bosom.

The next day Philip parted from his wife, who behaved with more
fortitude than on their first separation. "_All_ were lost, but _he_
was saved," thought Amine. "I feel that he will return to me. God o