buy a small interest in my master's business, but this was all I could
hope for, and the bright dreams which Hartog and I had formed of the
Island of Gems seemed about to dissolve, as is the way with phantoms,
into thin air.

But who can trace the course of Destiny, or fathom the mysteries of
Fate?



CHAPTER XVI

THE ISLAND OF GEMS


For some weeks after getting free from the kelp we experienced fine
weather, with favourable winds and a smooth sea, when, almost without
warning, a storm broke upon us with hurricane force. All hands were
ordered to shorten sail, no easy task in the fury of a gale. As chief
officer I took command in the fore part of the vessel, while Hartog
issued his orders aft. The sea ran so high, often breaking over the
bows and swamping the decks, that I ordered the men to attach
themselves by lifelines to the foremast, and I also secured myself in
the same way. As sometimes happens at sea in the heart of a storm, a
succession of rollers followed each other, making it impossible to do
more than hang on until they pass, and during one of these intervals I
observed Van Luck, whose presence I had forgotten in the hurry of the
moment, standing by the foremast with a knife in his hand. I was
powerless to reach him from where I stood, and a moment later the
lifeline which held me to the foremast was severed, when, despite a