"That is true, my son," said the father; and Ricla advised them to wait two days, for that there was one island so near you could distinctly see it when the sun shone and the sea was calm, and its inhabitants come occasionally to sell and barter what they have and make bargains with the islanders. "I will go forth," said she, "for none will hear or impede me, since the dead cannot do either of these things. I will contrive to buy a boat at whatever price they ask, telling them that I need it in order to escape with my husband and children who are shut up in a cave, to shelter from the fire; but you must know that these boats are made of the trunks of trees, covered with the hides of animals, to prevent the water entering by the sides, and according to what I have observed they can only be used in calm weather, and they carry none of those bits of linen cloth that I have seen in the boats which come sometimes to our coasts, bringing men and maidens for sale, to feed the superstitious follies that have long been the practice in this island. Now, I believe, such boats as I have described are not fit to trust to in the open sea, and encounter the storms and tempests that are so frequent." Periander enquired "whether the Señor Antonio had never tried this experiment during all the years he had been shut up here?" "No;" answered Ricla, "because too many eyes were upon me, and it would have been quite impossible for me to find an opportunity for agreeing with the owners of the boats, and making a purchase or finding an excuse for so doing." "That was the cause truly," said Antonio, "and not the insecurity of the boats; but now that Heaven has sent me this counsel I mean to follow it, and my good Ricla will be on the watch for the merchants of the other isle, and without haggling as to the price, will purchase a boat, with all the requisite sea stores, saying that she wants it for the purpose she has mentioned."