"I had not taken six steps before I was seized in a kind of whirlwind which sprang up from the water and almost choked me. In my hurry to get away I turned in the wrong direction and stepped off the pier into the boat, striking my head.
"I can remember clutching the key as I fell, and after that I knew nothing until I awoke and found myself lying on the sands of this island. Here I have been for two years, and in that time who knows what may have happened to my poor Amy, for without this key she cannot open the treasure chest."
Here the dove stopped and heaved a great sigh. "Fear not," said Daimur, "you shall go back in a very short time to your beloved niece if all goes as well as we hope."
Then as it was very late they all settled themselves for the night and were soon fast asleep.
CHAPTER X
Early in the morning Daimur was up and astir, and after breakfast he went for a walk alone. As he went along he thought of the stories he had heard, but most of all he thought of Prince Tasmir and wondered if he were still alive.
He had come to a clear space in the depths of the wood, and being rather tired, he leaned against a large tree, and looking up at the sky through the branches said aloud to himself:
"I wonder where Tasmir is?"
"I am here," said a faint voice immediately back of him.