OR THE DESERT ISLAND. 87

preted the cause of it. Whilst employed in the perform-
ance of so awful a duty, that Philip should have sought an
occasion of insulting him, appeared to the count an un-
pardonable crime.

He stood, and sternly surveyed his enemy as contemp-
tuously and insultingly as he could.

Merville, forgetting that he had been the first to violate
the truce he had himself made, cried out in a furious voice,
“Reserve your proud looks for those who care for them, if
any such there be on this whole island ; and believe that
I hold you beneath the dignity of revenge.”

The count loftily replied —*Go seek then one base
enough to brook your insolence—but meddle not with me ;”
and then, in an affected tone of calmness—the irony of des-
pair, he added, “Mr Merville, you will excuse my rude-
ness in intimating how greatly I should be favoured by
your absence. You have taken possession of the only ha-
bitable spot on the island; and I have not objected to it,
nor disputed it with you. In return for my moderation,
the least you can do is to leave me to my own society—
alone and tranquil, on my own sterile domains.”

“Were my only security,” rejoined Philip, with a sar-
castic smile, “to be found in the moderation of my lord
the Count D’Estaing, it would not be very long before I

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