He resolved merely to peep in at one of the many chinks in the log but for one moment, to satisfy himself that Gascoyne really was there, and to observe his position.

But as the latter now thought himself beyond the hearing of any one, he spoke in unguarded tones, and Henry heard a few words in spite of himself.
Looking through a chink in the wall at the end of the hut, he beheld the stalwart form of the sandal-wood trader standing on the hearth of the hut, which was almost unfurnished,--a stool, a bench, an old chest, a table, and a chair being all that it contained.

His mother was seated at the table, with her hands clasped before her, looking up at her companion.
"Oh! why run so great a risk as this ?" said she earnestly.
"I was born to run risks, I believe," replied Gascoyne, in a sad, low voice.

"It matters not.

My being on the island is the result of Manton's villainy; my being here is for poor Henry's sake and your own, as well as for the sake of Alice the missionary's child.