And as he looked into her clear bright eyes he knew that before this quest came to its end he was going to tell this enchanting girl that he loved her “better than all the world”; and moreover, he intended to tell it to her with the daring hope of winning her, money or no money.  Had not some poet written—­some worldly wise poet who rather had the hang of things—­

  “He either fears his fate too much,
    Or his deserts are small,
  Who dares not put it to the touch
    To win or lose it all.”

Money wasn’t everything; she herself had made that statement the first night out.  He had been afraid of Breitmann, but somehow that fear was all gone now.  Did she care, if ever so little?

He veered his gaze round and wondered where Breitmann was.  Could the man be asleep on a morn so vital as this?  No, there he was, on the very bowsprit itself.  The crew was busy about him, some getting the motor-boat in trim, others yanking away at pulleys, all the preparations of landing.  A sharp order rose now and then; a servant passed, carrying Captain Flanagan’s breakfast to the pilot-house.  To all this subdued turmoil Breitmann seemed apparently oblivious.  What mad dream was working in that brain?  Did the poor devil believe in himself; or did he have some ulterior purpose, unknown to any but himself?  Fitzgerald determined, once they touched land, never to let him go beyond sight.  It would not be human for him to surrender any part of the treasure without making some kind of a fight for it, cunning or desperate.  If only the women-folk remained on board!

Breitmann gazed toward the town motionless.  It was difficult for Fitzgerald not to tell the great secret then and there; but his caution whispered warningly.  There was no knowing what effect it would have upon the impulsive girl at his side.  And besides, there might have been a grain of selfishness in the repression.  All is fair in love or war; and it would not have been politic to make a hero out of Breitmann.

“You haven’t said a word for five minutes,” she declared.  How boyish he looked for a man of his experience!

“Silence is sometimes good for the soul,” sententiously.

“Of what were you thinking?”

His heart struck hard against his breast.  What an opening, what a moment in which to declare himself!  But he said:  “Perhaps I was thinking of breakfast.  This getting up early always makes me ravenous.  The smell of the captain’s coffee may have had something to do with it.”

“You were thinking of nothing of the sort,” she cried.  “I know.  It was the treasure and this great-grandson of Napoleon.  Sometimes I feel I only dreamed these things.  Why?  Because, whoever started out on a treasure quest without having thrilling adventures, shots in the dark, footsteps outside the room, villains, and all the rest of the paraphernalia?  I never read nor heard of such a thing.”