“Virginia,” she murmured weakly, “I think I shall not live to leave the island, even if I am not—­not executed.  In fact, I have a feeling now as though the end were approaching.  I have always known that my heart was not strong, even if your Aunt Susan did call it indigestion.  But oh, my dear child, it is not my digestion, it is my heart that has been wounded!  To have reposed such confidence in a Serpent!  To realize that I might have been impaled upon its fangs!  Oh, my dear, faithful child, what would I have done if you had not clung to me although I permitted Serpents to turn me from you!  But I am cruelly punished.  All I ask is that some day—­when you are married and happy, dear—­you will remove from this desolate spot the poor remains of her who—­of her who—­” Sobs choked Aunt Jane’s utterance.

“Jane—­” began Miss Higglesby-Browne.

“I was speaking to my niece,” replied Aunt Jane with unutterable dignity from her corner.  Her small features had all but disappeared in her swollen face, and her hair had slipped down at a rakish angle over one eye.  But, of course, being Aunt Jane, she must choose this moment to be queenly.

“There, there, auntie,” I said soothingly, “of course you are not going to leave your bones on this island.  If you did, you know, you and Bill Halliwell might ha’nt around together—­think how cozy!  (Here Aunt Jane gave a convulsive shudder.) As to my being married, if you were betting just now on anybody’s chances they would have to be Captain Magnus’s, wouldn’t they ?”

“Good gracious, Virginia!” shrieked Aunt Jane faintly.  But I went on relentlessly, determined to distract her mind from thoughts of her approaching end.

“All things considered, I suppose I really ought to ask you to put my affairs in order when you get back.  If I am carried off by the pirates, naturally I shall have to jump overboard at once, though I dislike the idea of drowning, and especially of being eaten by sharks.  Would you mind putting up a little headstone—­it needn’t cost much—­in the family plot, with just ‘Virginia’ on it?  And anything of mine that you don’t want yourself I’d like Bess to have for the baby, please.  Ask her when the little duck is old enough to tell her my sad story—­”

By this time Aunt Jane was sobbing loudly and waving her little hands about in wild beseeching.

“Oh, my precious girl, a headstone!  My love, would I grudge you a monument—­all white marble—­little angels—­’From her heart-broken aunt’?  Oh, why, why are we not safe at home together?  Why was I lured away to wander about the world with perfect strangers?  Why—­”

“Jane!” broke in Miss Browne again in awful tones.  But at that moment the door of the cabin opened and the face of Slinker peered in.

“Say,” he remarked, “there ain’t no sense in you girls stayin’ cooped up here that I see.  I guess me and Horny can stand you off if you try to rush us.  Come out and cool off a little.”