“Gone, gone for ever!” exclaimed Philip, pressing his hands to the balls of his eyes.

“Not so, Philip, the same Providence which has preserved us, will certainly assist her.  It is impossible that she can perish among so many islands, many of which are inhabited; and a woman will be certain of kind treatment.”

“If I could only think so,” replied Philip.

“A little reflection may induce you to think that it is rather an advantage than otherwise, that she is thus separated—­not from you, but from so many lawless companions, whose united force we could not resist.  Do you think that, after any lengthened sojourn on this island, these people with us would permit you to remain in quiet possession of your wife?  No!—­they would respect no laws; and Amine has, in my opinion, been miraculously preserved from shame and ill-treatment, if not from death.”

“They durst not, surely!  Well, but Krantz, we must make a raft and follow her; we must not remain here—­I will seek her through the wide world.”

“Be it so, if you wish, Philip, and I will follow your fortunes,” replied Krantz, glad to find that there was something, however wild the idea, for his mind to feed on.  “But now let us return to the raft, seek the refreshment we so much require, and after that we will consider what may be the best plan to pursue.”

To this, Philip, who was much exhausted, tacitly consented, and he followed Krantz to where the raft had been beached.  The men had left it, and were each of them sitting apart from one another under the shade of his own chosen cocoa-nut tree.  The articles which had been saved on the raft had not been landed, and Krantz called upon them to come and carry the things on shore—­but no one would answer or obey.  They each sat watching their money, and afraid to leave it, lest they should be dispossessed of it by the others.  Now that their lives were, comparatively speaking, safe, the demon of avarice had taken full possession of their souls; there they sat, exhausted, pining for water, and longing for sleep, and yet they dared not move—­they were fixed as if by the wand of the enchanter.

“It is the cursed dollars which have turned their brains,” observed Krantz to Philip; “let us try if we cannot manage to remove what we most stand in need of, and then we will search for water.”

Philip and Krantz collected the carpenter’s tools, the best arms, and all the ammunition, as the possession of the latter would give them advantage in case of necessity; they then dragged on shore the sail and some small spars, all of which they carried up to a clump of cocoa-nut trees, about a hundred yards from the beach.