by their
immaculate hammock-cloths, the gleaming polished brass-work of the
various deck-fittings, the taunt spars, with their orderly maze of
standing and running rigging and their broad expanse of gleaming well-
cut canvas, and last, but by no means least, the stalwart sun-burned
crew in their neat, clean, fine weather suits, presented a striking
contrast to the scene on board the _Truxillo_, where confusion,
disorder, and a very perceptible amount of dirt still reigned supreme.
My father, however, did not appear to notice the difference, possibly
his agitation was too great to permit of his being keenly sensible to
his outward surroundings; he knew that the moment for a full and
complete explanation of the mystery connected with the strange
unreasoning jealousy which he had cherished against my mother had
arrived; and whilst I fancied that he was equally eager with myself that
the explanation should be made, I could not help seeing that he at the
same time shrank from the ordeal.

It was not so with me. I instinctively felt that whatever the nature of
the revelation about to be made to me, there would be a sufficiently
weak point somewhere in the evidence to cast a serious doubt upon the
whole; that I should be able to discover and assail that weak point in
such a manner as not only to satisfy myself, but also my father, that he
was wrong and I was not entirely hopeless of being also able to discover
a clue which, patiently followed up, would eventually lead to a
satisfactory clearing up of everything. So I took my father's arm,
conducted him below into the cabin, rang for wine and glasses, and as
soon as the steward had disappeared, leaned over the table toward him
and said:

"Well, my dear father, at last we are alone, and can talk
unrestrainedly. Of course I have a thousand questions to ask you, so I
will commence by inquiring to what happy chance am I indebted for the
pleasure of this most unexpected meeting with you?"

"I will tell you, Leo," said my father. "I am here because I could no
longer overcome my longing to see you. That letter of yours, written
after your escape from La Guayra, and in reply to several of mine,
which, I gathered from what you said, reached you all at the same time,
was my salvation, mentally and physically. Its healthy, manly common-
sense tone acted upon my morbidly affected mind like a strong tonic
mingled with wine; it swept away the mists which had beclouded my
intellect,