“Poor fellow,” Hal said thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t have had it happen for the world. He deserved a better fate, believe me.”
“It seems that is the way with those we love,” said Felice with a poignancy that did not escape Hal.
“I know,” he said sympathetically. “I heard about your father from the captain, too. It was included in the story. What a tough break for him, huh?”
“Not only for him, but for all of us. You see, he had finally come to the conclusion that he was on the verge of a big discovery. He had kept it quiet, being afraid that it would prove disappointing. Consequently, we have never been able to find out just where the lode was. That it contained some gold was proven by the dust he brought home. The last trip he made was to decide just how much metal the lode would yield and if it would be worth while to go on.”
“And it was up this river—the Pallida Mors?”
“Yes,” Felice answered wistfully, “our river of pale death. We were to leave this wilderness and live in civilization if Father’s expectations were realized. I went to school in Rio; we thought of going there to live.”
“And how a girl like you must like to live in Rio,” Hal said, looking around.
“But we have neither the money, nor the heart. You heard, I suppose, that none of us shall leave here for good until Father’s body is recovered?”
“Yes. But that’s making things awfully hard for yourselves, isn’t it? In a river where there’s rapids....”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “We’ve discussed that times without number. But we always come to the conclusion that Father was seized with one of those uncanny premonitions that should be given serious thought. He had a fear that something was going to happen to him and he had a fear that his dead body would be left unprotected, something ... we’ve not been able to guess why he had that fear. In any event, we’ve waited ten years—we’re too poor to do other than stay where we are and we’re conscience free that we haven’t gone away from the region where Father died, leaving him alone. Even though we haven’t found him we feel better about it than if we had gone away.”