In this complexity of forms, all swaying together in the current, things were hard to be distinguished; and I was still uncertain whether my feet were pressed upon the natural rock or upon the timbers of the Armada treasure-ship, when the whole tuft of tangle came away in my hand, and in an instant I was on the surface, and the shores of the bay and the bright water swam before my eyes in a glory of crimson.
I clambered back upon the rocks, and threw the plant of tangle at my feet.

Something at the same moment rang sharply, like a falling coin.

I stooped, and there, sure enough, crusted with the red rust, there lay an iron shoe-buckle.

The sight of this poor human relic thrilled me to the heart, but not with hope nor fear, only with a desolate melancholy.

I held it in my hand, and the thought of its owner appeared before me like the presence of an actual man.