he lesser evils from which we suffered,
though the destruction of such a considerable quantity of our stores
was a serious loss, and set Hartog thinking as to whether our immediate
return to Amsterdam was not imperative.

"I had made up my mind for another year in these latitudes, Peter," he
said, "and I am loath to go back without setting foot upon the Island
of Gems, but man is but a straw in the hands of Destiny, and who am I
to set myself against the decrees of Fate?" So with mixed feelings of
disappointment and pleasure we once more found ourselves homeward
bound.

I had hoped that from this voyage I might return a rich man, able to
make honourable proposals to Count Holstein for his daughter's hand,
but it seemed now that fortune was not to be won so easily. My share of
the treasure found on Cortes' island might enrich me sufficiently to
buy a small interest in my master's business, but this was all I could
hope for, and the bright dreams which Hartog and I had formed of the
Island of Gems seemed about to dissolve, as is the way with phantoms,
into thin air.

But who can trace the course of Destiny, or fathom the mysteries of
Fate?

CHAPTER XVI

THE ISLAND OF GEMS

For some weeks after getting free from the kelp we experienced fine
weather, with favourable winds and a smooth sea, when, almost without
warning, a storm broke upon us with hurricane force. All hands were
ordered to shorten sail, no easy task in the fury of a gale. As chief
officer I took command in the fore part of the vessel, while Hartog
issued his orders aft. The sea ran so high, often breaking over the
bows and swamping the decks, that I ordered the men to attach
themselves by lifelines to the foremast, and I also secured myself in
the same way. As sometimes happens at sea in the heart of a storm, a
succession of rollers followed each other, making it impossible to do
more than hang on until they pass, and during one of these intervals I
observed Van Luck, whose presence I had forgotten in the hurry of the
moment, standing by the foremast with a knife in his hand. I was
powerless to reach him from where I stood, and a moment later the
lifeline which held me to the foremast was severed, when, despite a
desperate effort which I made to retain my hold, I was swept into the
sea.

For a time, which seemed to me an eternity, I was under water, but when
I rose to the surface I could see the ship at some distance from me,
fighting her way