he felt, that, under such
circumstances, careless would be no longer courage, but simple folly. He
had engaged in a duel in which he wanted to be victorious; hence he must
at least defend himself against the attack. He felt, moreover, that he
was the only protector his beloved had now; and that, if he died, she
would certainly be lost. But he also thought not only of defending
himself, but of getting at the assassin, and, through him, at the
infamous creature by whom he was employed, Sarah Brandon.

He therefore pursued his search quietly, slowly, but indefatigably.
Certain circumstances which he had at first forgotten, and a few points
skilfully put together, gave him some hope. He had, for instance,
ascertained that none but the crews of the boats had been on shore, and
that, of these, not one had been for ten minutes out of sight of the
others. Hence the pretended boatman was not a sailor on board "The
Conquest." Nor could it have been one of the marines, as none of them
had been allowed to leave the vessel. There remained the emigrants,
fifty or sixty of whom had spent the night in Saigon.

But was not the idea that one of these men might have led Daniel into
the trap contradicted by the circumstances of the first attempt? By
no means; for many of the younger men among these emigrants had asked
permission to help in the working of the ship in order to break the
monotony of the long voyage. After careful inquiry, Daniel ascertained
even that four of them had been with the sailors on the yards from which
the heavy block fell that came so near ending his life.

Which were they? This he could not ascertain.

Still the result was enough for Daniel to make his life more endurable.
He could breathe again on board ship; he went and came in all safety,
since he was sure that the guilty man was not one of the crew. He even
felt real and great relief at the thought that his would-be assassin was
not to be looked for among these brave and frank sailors; none of them,
at least, had been bribed with gold to commit a murder. Moreover, the
limits of his investigations had now narrowed down in such a manner,
that he might begin to hope for success in the end.

Unfortunately the emigrants had, a fortnight after the landing,
scattered abroad, going according as they were wanted, to the different
establishments in the colony, which were far apart from each other.
Daniel had therefore, at least for the moment, to give up a plan he