That purpose settled, he let his mind rest, and remained in a luxurious position on the deck.

The rebound from the hopeless case in which he had seemed to be was so great that he was not lonely.

He had instead a wholly pervading sense of ease and security.

His imagination was able to find beauty in the sand and the bushes and the salt marshes, and he did not need imagination at all to discover it in the great, mysterious ocean, which the moon was now tinting with silver.

It was a fine full moon, shedding its largest supply of beams, and swarms of bright stars sparkled in the cold, blue skies.