'Brother,' she said, 'if I am not to be flogged, the rest concerns me little. Let us say no more about it. I am now easy in my mind. Robin sleeps, Humphrey. He hath slept since the sun went down, and this afternoon he looked as if he knew me. Also, he took the bread sopped in Canary eagerly, as if he relished it.' 'These seas,' said Barnaby, 'are full of sharks.' I knew not what he meant, because we were speaking of Robin. 'Sharks have got their senses, as well as humans,' he went on. Still I understood him not. 'When a man on board a ship is going to die, the sharks find it out, and they follow that ship until he does die and is flung overboard. Then they devour his body and go away, unless there is more to follow. I have looked for sharks, and there are none following the boat; wherefore, though I am not a doctor, I am sure that Robin will not die.' 'I know not at all,' I said, 'how that may be. There are many things believed by sailors which are superstitions--fond beliefs nourished by the continual presence of perils. On the other hand, the senses of man are notoriously as far below those of creatures as his intellect is above them (yet a skilful man may read the premonition of death in a sick man's face). Therefore I know not but a shark may have a sense, like unto the eye of a hawk or the scent of a hound, with which to sniff the approach of death afar off. Let us comfort ourselves, Alice, with Barnaby's assurance.' ''Tis a well proved and tried thing,' said Barnaby; 'and sailors, let me tell thee, Master Doctor, have no superstitions or idle beliefs.' 'Well, that may be. As to Robin's disease, I can pronounce nothing upon it. Nay, had I the whole library of Padua to consult, I could learn nothing that would help me. First, the mind falls into a languishing and spiritless condition. That causeth the body to lie open to attacks of any disease which may be threatening. Then, the body, being ill at ease, works upon the mind, and causes it to wander beyond control. So that the soul, which is bound up with body and mind, cannot show herself or manifest her will. It is the will which shows the presence of the soul: the will which governs body and mind alike. But if I know aught of disease, if a change comes upon Robin it will either swiftly cure or swiftly kill.' 'Humphrey,' she whispered, 'if he recover, how shall I meet his face? How shall I reply when he asks me concerning my faith?' 'My dear, he knows all. 'Twas that knowledge, the pity of it, and the madness of it, believe me, which threw him into so low a condition.' 'I have looked daily for reproaches in thy kind eyes, Humphrey. I have found none, truly. But from Robin--oh! I dare not think of meeting those eyes of his.'