She did not understand him. I explained, giving her a look; she addressed me in Spanish and English.
“The lady will be glad to go ashore, and looks forward to it,” said I.
Nothing more was said. The huge bulk of the man seemed wearied out to the heels of his feet; and, indeed, the straining and climbing involved in the ascent of those inland steeps must have sorely tested the muscle and bones whose load was Bol’s fat. He went forward and sat down. The men had swayed the longboat inboard, had chocked her, and were now shipping the gangway and clearing up.
I considered a little and then resolved to let the brig lie as she was. We had a full two-mile offing, which was enough with a short lee-shore to deal with in case of a heavy, sudden inshore gale.
The sun went down behind the island, as it had risen behind the island, to our gaze when coming from the east. The western sky was a sheet of red splendor, and the island stood in a deep purple against it until the light went out of the heavens, when the land floated in shadow upon the dusk like a vast thick smoke hovering. Never a light kindled by mortal there! The whole mighty spirit of the great ocean solitude was in that shadow. A few clouds hung high, and the stars were bright, with a merry fair weather twinkling among them that made me hopeful of clear skies and brisk winds.
The night passed quickly. I lay upon the cabin locker, fully dressed, and was up and down every hour. The air was soft and mild, for Amsterdam Island lies upon the pleasantest parallel in the world, where the atmosphere is sweet and dry, where it is never too hot, though at night-time it may be sometimes cold, and the wonder is that you should find such hideous barrenness and nakedness as you observe in this island in the most temperate, cheerful, and fruitful of climates.
Miss Aurora retired early, at my request. I was afraid of her on the eve of such a day as to-morrow might prove. She was a little heedless in her questions, talked somewhat loud, as the foreigner will when he discourses in our tongue, and to provide against all risks of our betraying ourselves by sitting in company below, or walking the deck together, I told her to go to bed.
At midnight Bol relieved Galen. I walked with Bol awhile, and all our talk was about the island, the depth at which the money should be buried, the mark that was to denote the treasure, and so forth. He wanted to know if money was to be injured by lying in the earth; I answered that the metal out of which money was made came from the earth. What would be a good mark to set up? I told him he was a carpenter and ought to know; but I advised him not to bury the money so carefully that we should never afterward be able to find out where it lay hid. He said it would not do to erect a cross, or any sign that indicated human handiwork, lest men should land after we had left the island, and guessing at the meaning of the mark, fall a-digging. The place they had settled on he informed me was at the foot of a peculiar rise of land of a very strange shape. He described this rise of land and its appearance seemed to be that of the head of a cat. Once beheld it could never be forgotten. It was the wish of the men, however, when the money was buried, and I went on shore to view the spot and take its correct bearings from different points of the island, that I should make a sketch in black and white of the peculiarly-shaped rise of land or little hill; this would be copied, and each man hold a drawing of the hill for himself with all particulars written underneath.
“I’ll do whatever is reasonable and right,” said I.
“Dere vhas two ton belonging to you, Mr. Fielding.”