588 tin: WATCH-TOWER OF KOAT-VEN. 



Henry was aroused from a dream of thoughtfulness by the sudden 

 entrance of his second lieutenant, Mouval. "The watch-tower on 

 the coast demands our number, Sir." '* Well, give it, then," said 

 Henry, a little vexed at being at this moment disturbed in his reverie. 

 " What is this curious watch-tower?" " It is the one recently estab- 

 lished on the tower of Koat-ven, Sir," answered Mouval ; " see, Sir, 

 you can see it from here." 



It would be difficult to describe the sensation which this name, 

 pronounced at this moment, and in this train of mind, produced upon 

 Henry. He knit his brows, made a bow to his officer, and paced his 

 cabin rapidly. But the transient emotions aroused by the appear- 

 ance of Koat-ven, shaded in its present gloom, were felt by others as 

 well as Henry. There was Rumphius, who had passed away many a 

 long night upon its platform, examining the stars. There was Sulpice, 

 too, who had also watched through long nights, anxious for his bro- 

 ther's safety. And there was Rita ; and her squire. 



For Rita, still bent on revenge, had by the good management of 

 Perez, been admitted on board under the title of supernumerary 

 clerk to the purser. This post gave her power over the provisions 

 for the ship's company, and she had conceived the horrible project 

 of mixing poison with the food which was eaten by all but Henry, 

 and in this way bring him beneath the bann of their suspicion. With 

 this diabolical intention a large quantity of an African drug, Tshettik, 

 of which she had studied the nature in the book of Jose Ortez, had 

 been mixed with the bread and brandy. The effects were speedily 

 evident among the men, and the prophecy of Ortez seemed all but 

 accomplished : " Their faces shall become livid, and their sleep 

 interrupted by horrid dreams : they shall lose their strength, their 

 spirits ; the brave shall become cowards, and the hands of the young 

 shake like palsied age ; and they shall wax thin and appear like 

 spectres; their eye-balls roll within their hollow orbs; and they 

 shall die o'erwhelmed with the ghastly torments of distraction." 

 ***** 



In an obscure retreat at one extremity of the larboard wing were 

 assembled a small knot of Bretons, who met in council every evening 

 to converse upon the likely cause of their common misfortune. One 

 among their number, who associated in his proper person an as- 

 semblage of anomalous oddities, had amused himself by exciting the 

 most powerful superstitious alarms in the minds of his companions. 

 This person had contrived to make them believe that he had obtained 

 the diploma of Lieutenant of Magic, and was capable of unfolding 

 the most hidden mysteries, provided they would deposit in his hands 

 certain monies and eatables with which he was obliged to fee the 

 Captain of Magic. To add still more to their belief in his power, 

 he had made use of the strange language and strange conversation 

 which frequently passed between Rita and Perez in their small cabin, 

 when they believed themselves unheard and unnoticed. It was in 

 reference to a late espionnage upon their movements, that the leader 

 of this small party exclaimed, " I tell you that I saw him myself, 

 through a small opening in the corner of the Spaniard's cabin !" 

 " What," cried several voices at once, " saw the the Devil !" "Yes, 



