"Most unfortunate! most unfortunate!" muttered the governor as soon as he was left alone with his subordinates. "Poor, blind fools! how they rush upon their fate! Well," he shouted, "see him?" "No, sir. Boats are coming back, sir." This was plain enough, and a few minutes later both rowed up in close with fresh blue lights illuminating the scene. "Ahoy! Who's up yonder?" shouted a naval officer. "I am," cried the governor. "Oh, you, Sir William! Well, sir, I'll keep my men on if you like, but no swimmer could have got to shore from hereabouts. If there is a man living he must be somewhere on these rocks." "My men say they have searched thoroughly," said the governor. "Every ledge and crack is well known. There can be no one here." "Shall we patrol the place a little longer?" The governor was silent for a few moments, and then, feeling that all possible had been done, he gave the word for the search to be given up, but sent half a dozen men to patrol the road leading to the mainland, feeling all the while that it was a hopeless task. By this time the last man had climbed up from the dangerous cliff side, the ropes were coiled, and the party marched off toward the prison--the governor last--leaving the sentinel warder to his beat with the company of another man. These two stood in silence till the footsteps had died out on the rocky path and the last blue light had ceased to send golden drops into the hissing water as the boats made for the man-of-war. "Black night's work this, Jem," said the companion sentry. "Two of 'em gone and three wounded." "No, no; not so bad as that." "Yes, bad as that. Yon chap on the stretcher won't see to-morrow morning, and that other poor chap who shrieked when we fired went into the water like a stone. It was your shot did that." "Ugh! I hope not," said the warder, with a shudder. "Seems to me time I tried another way of getting my bread and cheese. Hark!" "What at?" "That. Someone hailed off the water. Quite low and faint, like a man going down." The clouds were lifting slowly in the east, and the misty, blurred face of the moon began to show in the east, over the brimming water's rim. CHAPTER NINETEEN. ALMOST BY ACCIDENT. Time had crept on since the return of the Jerrolds, and by degrees the pain of the meeting between Myra and Stratton grew less, and the wound made that day began to heal. "I'm sorry for him," Guest would say to himself; "but I can't keep away because he is unhappy." So he visited at the admiral's, where he always found a warm welcome, but made little progress with Edie, who seemed to have grown cold. Then, too, he met the cousins at Miss Jerrold's, and it naturally came about that one evening, after a good deal of persuasion, Stratton became his companion.