ich united him to his men had been
broken. The mate was carrying away a part of the prestige that Ferragut
exercised over the crew. How could he explain his disappearance on the
eve of an illegal voyage which exacted such great secrecy? How could he
rely upon the silence of everybody?... He remained pensive a long time,
then suddenly leaping up from his armchair, he went out on deck,
shouting to the seamen:

"Where is Don Antonio? Go find him. Call him for me."

"_Don Antoni!... Don Antoni!_..." replied a string of voices from poop
to prow, while Uncle Caragol's head poked itself out of the door of his
dominions.

"_Don Antoni_" appeared through the hatchway. He had been going all
over the boat, after taking leave of his captain. Ferragut received him
with averted face, avoiding his glance, and with a complex and
contradictory gesture. He felt angry at being vanquished and the shame
of weakness yet, allied to these sensations, was the instinctive
gratitude which one experiences upon being freed from an unwise step by
a violent hand which mistreats and saves.

"You are to remain, Toni!" he said in a dull voice. "There is nothing
to say. I will redeem my word as best I can.... To-morrow you shall
know certainly what we are going to do."

The solar face of Caragol was beaming beatifically without seeing
anything, without hearing anything. He had suspected something serious
in the captain's arrival, his long interview alone with the mate, and
the departure of the latter passing silent and scowling before the door
of his galley. Now the same presentiment advised him that a
reconciliation between the two men whose figures he could only
distinguish confusedly, must have taken place. Blessed be the Christ of
the Grao!... And upon learning that the captain would remain aboard
until afternoon, he set himself to the confection of one of his
masterly rice-dishes in order to solemnize the return of peace.

A little before sunset Ulysses again found himself with his mistress in
the hotel. He had returned to land, nervous and uneasy. His uneasiness
made him fear this interview while at the same time he wished it.

"Out with it! I am not a child to feel such fears," he said to himself
upon entering his room and finding Freya awaiting him.

He spoke to her with the brusqueness of one who wishes to conclude
everything quickly.... "I could not undertake the service that the
doctor asked. I take back my word. The mate on board wou