"Would that I could go with thee," he said brokenly. "I will think of thee often, as thou dost wander in exile beyond the sea," and turning, he descended the ladder into the little boat that awaited him. Swiftly they carried him to where a great and majestic oak stood overhanging the water, like some forest monarch, with its sturdy head upraised against the sky. I watched him as he sat with bent head, his face turned towards the shore. A few moments and the boat touched the bank. He sprang out; the men had turned back, and with rapid strokes were coming toward the vessel, leaving him standing looking at me as I leaned upon the rail. He was only one hundred yards away, for the river was narrow at this point, and raising my voice, I hailed him. "Remember the trust I have confided into thy hands," I shouted, "and stand stanch and true." "I shall not forget," he answered, with a wave of his hand. "It is of thee that I think." The adventurers were crowding around me with bulging eyes; evidently they were swelling with curiosity as to what this strange occurrence could mean, but they said naught to me. The boat had returned, and with a rush the vessel spread her sails and pursued her journey. I watched as long as I could see the solitary figure, standing by the giant oak, waving his sword at me. Finally I could no longer see the glimmer of the sun upon the steel; only a tiny black speck, and at last that too faded from my view--I had left him. We passed the mouth of the river and struck the ocean. In front of us, a mile or two away, two vessels rocked and tossed upon the bosom of the Atlantic. I heard White's voice by my side. "It is the Dart and the Goodwill," he said, "our two consorts. We will soon overtake them." Like a seagull that plumes her feathers, ere she takes some long flight across the blue sea, the vessel seemed to hesitate and waver, as though uncertain of her course. Striking the long roll of the surf, she quivered and rocked a moment, and then spreading her wings, she took her departure out into that great unknown--the boundless ocean. CHAPTER XIV CROATAN For long days and nights we rocked to and fro, rising and falling with the waves, only the blue water stretched around and about us. No vessel, no land in sight, nothing but water, water, water all around, and afar the distant horizon as it seemed to stoop and blend with the ocean. The second morning out I stood leaning on the rail, gazing far out in front of me. "Ugh," said someone, and raising my eyes, I saw standing near me a savage, red and fierce in his paint and skins, the feather of an eagle in his coarse black hair, his dark gleaming eyes upon my face. It was the Indian whom I had seen with Raleigh one night at Lady Wiltshire's.