And so the days glided on till the schooner, with her freight of silver, was in mid-ocean, and still the fates favoured them. It was a lovely evening, and the sun was descending fast in the west, turning the sea into one heaving mass of orange and gold. Nearly every one was on deck--Mr Parkley and the captain together talking of the future of the voyage, and Mr Wilson seated with his chin resting on his hand gazing pensively at Bessy, who was kneeling beside the mattress on which her brother lay, his great eyes looking towards the golden-flooded sky. Dutch and Hester, too, were together, silent and thoughtful, while the solemn grandeur of the scene seemed to impress even the men forward, for they sat about the deck almost without a word. It was with quite a start, then, that Dutch saw the doctor come up softly from below and approach him with a solemn look upon his face. "Is anything wrong?" said Dutch, though he almost read what the other had to say. "Your enemy will soon be powerless to work you evil, Mr Pugh," was the reply; "he is dying, I think, fast." Hester shuddered and clasped her husband's arm. "Poor wretch!" exclaimed Dutch. "There," he cried, impetuously, "don't talk of enemies at such a time. I forgive him the ill he did to me. May God be merciful too!" "Amen," said Hester beneath her breath; and then she shuddered and clung more closely to her husband, for so shaken had her nerves been that it seemed to her even now they were not free from the Cuban's influence. "Can you not save his life?" said Dutch. "He should have time to repent." "But would he?" said Mr Meldon. "I fear life to him would only be the opportunity to work us all more ill." "For heaven's sake, don't think of that, man," cried Dutch. "Have you tried all you could to save him?" "I have tried all I know," said the doctor earnestly. "I cannot think of one hour's lapse of duty." "No, no, of course not," said Dutch, holding out his hand. "I insult you by such a supposition." "Miss Studwick is beckoning to you, Mr Meldon," exclaimed Hester suddenly; and turning they saw her upon her knees evidently in alarm. "Poor fellow!" muttered the doctor almost in a whisper; but the young couple heard him, and stood watching anxiously, for though John Studwick's death was expected, they had hoped that he might first reach home. He had been gazing for quite an hour at the glorious sky, and had apparently been no worse than usual; but now the change had come suddenly, and no one knew it more than he. For just as Bessy was bending over to speak to him, startled slightly by his lengthened silence, he turned to her and smiled lovingly and tenderly as his thin hand pressed hers. "Kiss me, Bessy," he said, in a low, strange voice; and as she gazed at him with dilating eyes, and pressed her lips to his, he said gently, "The doctor!"