Michael then put them all ashore.
Ali Tschorbadschi lay at the bottom of the Danube, where he had wished to be.
CHAPTER XII.
AN EXCELLENT JOKE.
In the morning when Timéa awoke she felt no more of her illness; the strength of youth had won the victory. She dressed and came out of the cabin. When she saw Timar forward she went to him and asked, "Where is my father?"
"Fraülein, your father is dead."
Timéa gazed at him with her great melancholy eyes; her face could hardly become paler than it was already. "And where have they put him?"
"Fraülein, your father rests at the bottom of the Danube."
Timéa sat down by the bulwarks and looked silently into the water. She did not speak or weep; she only looked fixedly into the river.
Timar thought it would lighten her heart if he spoke words of consolation to her. "Fraülein, while you were ill and unconscious, God called your father suddenly to himself. I was beside him in his last hour. He spoke of you, and commissioned me to give you his last blessing. By his wish I am to take you to an old friend of his, with whom you are connected through your mother, who will adopt you and be a father to you. He has a pretty young daughter, a little older than you, who will be your sister. And all that is on board this vessel belongs to you by inheritance, left to you by your father. You will be rich; and think gratefully of the loving father who has cared for you so kindly."
Timar's throat swelled as he thought, "And who died to secure your liberty, and killed himself in order to endow you with the joys of life."