Then he uttered a fearful oath and aimed a blow at me with the hammer he held, which would swiftly have put an end to my sufferings had I not at that moment been lifted from his reach by those who pulled above.
In another second I had fallen on the deck as they slacked the rope.
Near me stood two black men whose office it was to cast us poor wretches into the sea, and behind them, seated in a chair, his face haggard from recent illness, sat de Garcia fanning himself with his sombrero, for the night was very hot.
He recognised me at once in the moonlight, which was brilliant, and said, 'What! are you here and still alive, Cousin?
You are tough indeed; I thought that you must be dead or dying.

Indeed had it not been for this accursed plague, I would have seen to it myself.

Well, it has come right at last, and here is the only lucky thing in all this voyage, that I shall have the pleasure of sending you to the sharks.

It consoles me for much, friend Wingfield.

So you came across the seas to seek vengeance on me?
Well, I hope that your stay has been pleasant.