And as he looked into her clear bright eyes he knew that before this
quest came to its end he was going to tell this enchanting girl that he
loved her "better than all the world"; and moreover, he intended to
tell it to her with the daring hope of winning her, money or no money.
Had not some poet written--some worldly wise poet who rather had the
hang of things--
"He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
Who dares not put it to the touch
To win or lose it all."
Money wasn't everything; she herself had made that statement the first
night out. He had been afraid of Breitmann, but somehow that fear was
all gone now. Did she care, if ever so little?
He veered his gaze round and wondered where Breitmann was. Could the
man be asleep on a morn so vital as this? No, there he was, on the
very bowsprit itself. The crew was busy about him, some getting the
motor-boat in trim, others yanking away at pulleys, all the
preparations of landing. A sharp order rose now and then; a servant
passed, carrying Captain Flanagan's breakfast to the pilot-house. To
all this subdued turmoil Breitmann seemed apparently oblivious. What
mad dream was working in that brain? Did the poor devil believe in
himself; or did he have some ulterior purpose, unknown to any but
himself? Fitzgerald determined, once they touched land, never to let
him go beyond sight. It would not be human for him to surrender any
part of the treasure without making some kind of a fight for it,
cunning or desperate. If only the women-folk remained on board!
Breitmann gazed toward the town motionless. It was difficult for
Fitzgerald not to tell the great secret then and there; but his caution
whispered warningly. There was no knowing what effect it would have
upon the impulsive girl at his side. And besides, there might have
been a grain of selfishness in the repression. All is fair in love or
war; and it would not have been politic to make a hero out of Breitmann.
"You haven't said a word for five minutes," she declared. How boyish
he looked for a man of his experience!
"Silence is sometimes good for the soul," sententiously.
"Of what were you thinking?"
His heart struck hard against his breast. What an opening, what a
moment in which to declare himself! But he said: "Perhaps I was
thinking of breakfast. This getting up early always makes me ravenous.
The smell of the captain's coffee may have had something to do with it."
"You were thinking of nothing of the sort," she cried. "I know. It
was the treasure and this great-grandson of Napoleon. Sometimes I feel
I only dreamed these things. Why? Because, whoever started out on a
treasure quest without having thrilling adventures, shots in the dark,
footsteps outside the room, villains, and all the rest of the
paraphernalia? I never read nor heard of such a thing."
"Nor I. But there's land yonder," he said, without an answering smile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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