tion of piracy in
the very air of the island, so that to seize with the high hand, to
hold with the iron grasp, seemed the law of life, we decided
without a qualm against the surrender of our treasure-trove to its
technical owners. Technical only; for one felt that, in essence,
all talk of ownership by this man or that had long ago become idle.
Fate had held the treasure in fee to give or to withhold. Senor
Gonzales had had his chance at the chest, and he had missed the
secret of the hidden hoard, had left it to lie forgotten under the
sand until in some tropic storm it should be engulfed by the waters
of the cove. More than this, had he not most specifically made
over to me the _Island Queen_ and all that it contained? This was
a title clear enough to satisfy the most exacting formalist. And
we were not formalists, nor inclined in any quibbling spirit to
question the decrees of Fortune. As treasure-hunters, we had been
her devotees too long.

So after all it was not my scornful skepticism but the high faith
of Miss Higglesby-Browne which was justified by the event, and the
Harding-Browne expedition left the island well repaid for its toils
and perils. Plus the two bags of doubloons, which were added to
the spoils, the treasure brought us a sum so goodly that I dare not
name it, for fear of the apparition of Senor Gonzales and the Santa
Marinan navy looming up to demand restitution. Like true comrades,
we divided share and share alike, and be sure that no one grudged
Cookie the percentage Which each was taxed for his benefit.

Certain of the rarest; jewels were not sold, but found their way to
me as gifts of the Expedition severally and collectively. The
brightest of the diamonds now shines in my engagement ring.
Cuthbert, by the way, showed up so splendidly when I explained to
him about the engagement--that the responsibility was entirely
mine, not Dugald's--that I earnestly wished I were twins so that
one of me could have married the beautiful youth--which indeed I
had wished a little all the time.

And now I come to the purpose of this story--for though well
concealed it has had one from the beginning. It is to let Helen,
whoever and wherever she may be, if still of this world, know of
the fate of Peter, and to tell her that when she asks for them she
is to have my most cherished relics of the island, Peter's journal
and the silver shoe-buckle which he found in the sand of the
treasure-cave and was tak