"Oh! I remember," said she, clapping her hands joyfully. "Why, that is close to where you left—left him!"
"Yes," says I; "and the very place Sir Bartlemy will go to refit, if I know aught about the matter."
In this way did I bring her round to a more cheerful temper and a forgetfulness of her position. Nay, I almost cheated myself in trying to deceive her. For, to tell the truth, I had no honest opinion that we were near Paria, else had we seen by this time Margarita, or some of those isles thereabouts. Rather I was inclined to think we were over against the mountains of Guayva. However, I believe we were in neither the one place nor the other but on the coast of Darian—these huge mountains being a spur of the Andes; and if we were not there, then I know not where we were.
I kept on long after the sun had set, nor would I have stayed when I did but for the rocks which began to encumber the shore, and my fear to venture far abroad lest some current should get me into trouble.
Coming now to a kind of cove, well sheltered with rocks and convenient to abide in, as far as we could judge by the light of the stars, I threw out the grapple, which was made fast to the headline, and found it held very well.
This being done, we ate a second supper of turtle and milk; after which I made up as comfortable a bed in the bottom of the boat as was to be had with no better material than the lug-sail, and induced Lady Biddy to lie down and get some sleep, promising to wake her as soon as the day broke, and get a few hours' sleep myself whilst she kept watch.
There was just enough light for me to descry her pale face at the further end of the boat as she lay on the rude bed. I sat watching her, maybe two hours, thinking by her stillness she had fallen asleep; but of a sudden, without moving, she says:
"Benet, do you think we could get there in a week?"
I answered—though with a feeling that I did wrong to encourage a false hope—I answered, I say, that I thought we might do so.
"If we have good luck," she adds.