My nerves had been tried too greatly in the past week.

Now I was comatose, and beyond hoping or fearing.
I sat for a long time watching the light play on the fretted sheet of water and wondering where Laputa's body had gone.

I shivered and wished he had not left me alone, for the darkness would come in time and I had no matches.

After a little I got tired of doing nothing, and went groping among the treasure chests.

One or two were full of coin--British sovereigns, Kruger sovereigns, Napoleons, Spanish and Portuguese gold pieces, and many older coins ranging back to the Middle Ages and even to the ancients.