"I knew you _were_ wrecked," said Anthony. "But I've never had any of the details." "She was an India-built ship," said Tom Horn. "The firm had her of an Englishman. She was of teak, with ribs and beams of English oak. A stout, beautiful ship, and carrying a great weight of silks and other costly things. When you walked her deck she seemed as safe and solid as a continent; her walls were like the walls of a great building. I've watched the sea churn and leap and break under the wind; but it never seemed as if it could harm the _William and Mary_." "But you found it could, in the end?" said Anthony. "Let the wind blow hard enough and long enough from the right direction, and anything of man's building seems fragile enough." "The wind moves in a circle around the world," said Tom Horn. "And the sea does, too. And, as they go, they catch up other winds and other seas; and so they band together and gain force, and crush and rend. The _William and Mary_ was within the circle; nothing under God's heaven could save her; she was tossed as a chip is tossed by the wind; she slid down the sides of the great waves as a stone goes down hill. The masts were out of her; and she was low by the head, on the third day," said Tom Horn. "And then we drifted out of the winds' circle. The sea flattened out and the sun shone; and then the officers and crew abandoned her." "And you remained aboard?" asked Anthony. "I was supercargo," said Tom Horn. "And all the rich goods in the hold were in my care. Captain Hollister urged me to go, but I would not." "Captain Hollister," said Anthony. "Was he not once master of the _Sea Mew_?" "Yes," said Tom Horn. "Another good ship lost at sea." He looked at Anthony, silent for a moment, and Anthony looked at him. And the silence was filled with things that were not said. And then the man went on: "I saw them sail away in their little boats, and I sat on the deck and wondered what was in store for me. I was a full year in that hulk," said Tom Horn, "drinking the stinking water in the casks, and eating the wretched salt food; and in that time I drifted into still seas and saw strange sights. Once in the quiet of the night, with the sea having no motion, and a full moon hanging above, I saw a great reptile-like thing clamber up over the bow and slip along the deck; amidships it went over the side, and I heard it splash as it went into the water. It left a slimy track, as a monstrous snail might do," said Tom Horn; "and from that time I was afraid. I wanted the sight of land; I wanted the sight of people; I did not want to feel that on all the still seas, under that wide, white moon, I was the only creature with a soul given by God." "Yes," said Anthony, "I understand."