On the endless ribbon of island that stretched out to either hand of him its array of golden and green and silvery palms, not the most volatile frond was to be seen stirring; they drooped to their stable images in the lagoon like things carved of metal, and already their long line began to reverberate heat.

There was no escape possible that day, none probable on the morrow.

And still the stores were running out! Then came over Davis, from deep down in the roots of his being, or at least from far back among his memories of childhood and innocence, a wave of superstition.

This run of ill luck was something beyond natural; the chances of the game were in themselves more various; it seemed as if the devil must serve the pieces.

The devil?
He heard again the clear note of Attwater's bell ringing abroad into the night, and dying away.
How if God...?
Briskly, he averted his mind.