82 THE SHIPWRECK,

count, yet something was due to his rank and his birth,
and that in this last quarrel the blame had been entirely on
his own side. Thatit was he who had provoked the hasty
expressions of the count, by making his misfortune the
subject of his mockery. That the loss of his knife would
be an irreparable and grievous calamity, since it would
thenceforward deprive him of the means of providing for
his most urgent necessities. Philip would readily have
gone to the shore in order to ascertain what had become
of the count ; but he dreaded lest a fresh altercation might
be the result. However he was obliged to go thither,
after his dinner, to gather up some additional remains of
the wreck.

Having reached the shore, he found that the tide had
been extremely high the preceding night, and that it had
thrown on the sand a plentiful supply of plank and cor-
dage, and even the broken masts of the ship. He eagerly
collected them together on an elevation beyond the reach
of the tide.

When he had finished, he walked towards the cavern,
in which the count had taken up his residence. The rays
of the setting sun, reflected by his epaulette, enabled Philip
to discern him at a distance. He appeared to be engaged
in some kind of labour.