d on my account--
oh yes, I heard everything; I was in the cabin, and the skylight was
open, so I could not help hearing what passed. I know that these men
are taking advantage of my presence to coerce and terrorise you by means
of threats of violence toward me, and I cannot help feeling how
dreadfully you are hampered and embarrassed by having me to look after
and protect. But you have never wavered or faltered for one instant,
you have forgotten all about yourself and have thought wholly and only
of me; and--and--I think it only right you should know how greatly I
appreciate your goodness, and--how--how--grateful I am for all that you
have done and are still doing for me."

There undoubtedly _were_ tears in her eyes as she concluded; but a
certain wild, delirious hope, that had half formed itself as I noted the
enthusiasm with which she had begun her speech, died out again as she
faltered and hesitated, and finally concluded in as sober, impassive,
conventional a tone as though she had been thanking me for procuring a
cab for her on a rainy night. I hastened to assure her that she was
quite mistaken in supposing that her presence aboard the brig was an
embarrassment to me; that, on the contrary, it was the only pleasant
feature of the whole adventure, so far as I was concerned; and then,
fearing lest her gracious mood should tempt me to say more than she
would be willing to listen to, I hastily turned the conversation toward
O'Gorman's document, which I placed in her hands, asking her to read it
and tell me what she thought of it.

She read it carefully through once, and then handed it back to me with
the remark:

"I think it is perfectly genuine--everything appears to point in that
direction--and I have no doubt whatever that the gems will be found in
the spot indicated."

"I am now inclined to that opinion myself," said I. "But how is the
spot indicated to be found? The writer, you will observe, mentions two
black rocks, but he furnishes no clue whatever as to their whereabouts.
Where are we to look for these rocks? and how are we to identify them?"

"That particular passage," answered she, "is, I admit, decidedly
obscure. Yet I think the context furnishes a clue to its elucidation.
It reads thus:--`anchor anywhere not closer than within a dozen fathoms
of the island,'--which I take to mean this small island, or islet,
opposite us. The island was evidently the most prominent object in the
writer's mind