at the man was none other than de Garcia himself, which,
although I had not thought of it before, was not strange, seeing that
then as now the Indies were the refuge of half the desperadoes and
villains who could no longer live in Spain. Thither then I made up my
mind to follow him, consoling myself a little by the thought that at
least I should see new and wonderful countries, though how new and
wonderful they were I did not guess.

Now it remained for me to dispose of the wealth which had come to me
suddenly. While I was wondering how I could place it in safety till my
return, I heard by chance that the 'Adventuress' of Yarmouth, the same
ship in which I had come to Spain a year before, was again in the port
of Cadiz, and I bethought me that the best thing I could do with the
gold and other articles of value would be to ship them to England, there
to be held in trust for me. So having despatched a message to my friend
the captain of the 'Adventuress,' that I had freight of value for him, I
made my preparations to depart from Seville with such speed as I might,
and to this end I sold my benefactor's house, with many of the effects,
at a price much below their worth. The most of the books and plate,
together with some other articles, I kept, and packing them in cases,
I caused them to be transported down the river to Cadiz, to the care
of those same agents to whom I had received letters from the Yarmouth
merchants.

This being done I followed thither myself, taking the bulk of my fortune
with me in gold, which I hid artfully in numerous packages. And so it
came to pass that after a stay of a year in Seville, I turned my back on
it for ever. My sojourn there had been fortunate, for I came to it
poor and left it a rich man, to say nothing of what I had gained in
experience, which was much. Yet I was glad to be gone, for here Juan de
Garcia had escaped me, here I had lost my best friend and seen Isabella
de Siguenza die.

I came to Cadiz in safety and without loss of any of my goods or gold,
and taking boat proceeded on board the 'Adventuress,' where I found her
captain, whose name was Bell, in good health and very glad to see me.
What pleased me more, however, was that he had three letters for me, one
from my father, one from my sister Mary, and one from my betrothed, Lily
Bozard, the only letter I ever received from her. The contents of these
writings were not altogether pleasing however, for I learned from them
t