t what I had done was no more than any
other Englishman would do if he had the power, under similar
circumstances; that such conduct was thought nothing of among our
nation; being regarded as simply a duty which each man owed to every
other, in like circumstances of distress with his own.

"I know--I know," replied he, "the English are as generous as they are
brave; but still I would I had it in my power to express my thanks
otherwise than in words. But I am alone in the world which I am so soon
to leave. Not one have I of my own name or blood to whom I can bequeath
my debt of gratitude; and when my ship went to pieces to-day (she was my
own property, senor), I became a beggar. I have not so much property
left as will pay the expenses of my burial; and here I lie, indebted to
a stranger, and that stranger a foreigner, for the shelter which covers
my dying head, as I soon shall be for the coffin and the grave which
await my lifeless clay."

I was beginning to say something, with the intention of diverting his
mind from so painful a train of thought, when he interrupted me eagerly.

"And yet," continued he, "poor as I am, it is in my power to make you
rich--ay, beyond the utmost scope of your imagination. And I will, I
_will_! Why should I take this secret to the grave with me? In a few
hours I shall be beyond the want of earthly riches, but you, senor, are
young, and look forward to a long life; doubtless, like other men, you
have already indulged in many a bright day-dream which the possession of
wealth would go far to realise. Listen, gentil senor; I must be brief,
for I feel that I have no time to lose. I have been shipwrecked once
before. It is now nearly three years ago since I sailed from Valparaiso
for Canton, whence we were to proceed to Bombay, and so home round the
Cape of Good Hope. I was then chief-mate. We met with nothing but
calms for the first three weeks of our passage, after which the weather
changed, and we had a succession of adverse gales until we were within
fifteen degrees of the line. Here we were worse off than ever, for at
one moment we were lying in a glassy calm, and perhaps in five minutes
afterwards were under close-reefed canvas, or possibly bare poles. At
length a furious squall threw the ship on her beam-ends, and we were
compelled to cut away all three of her masts to save her from
foundering. And then the squall settled down into a perfect hurricane,
and we could do noth