I didn't care a cockle-shell what became of me; and if ever a man was on the brink of destruction, it was Gethin Owens of Garthowen during those two years.

I tried everything to drown my sorrows.
"'Twas just then in Monte Video I caught a fever--the yellow fever they call it--and I was in the hospital there for many weeks.

They told me afterwards that I had a very bad turn of it.

The doctors said they'd never seen a man so ill and yet recover.

I took their word for it.
But I knew nothing about it myself, for I was as happy as a king those weeks, roaming about Garthowen slopes, dancing in the mill, and whistling at the plough, and Morva at my side always.