CHAPTER XIII.
“A DIEU VAT Vee

‘August 29th to September 10th—Thirteen days have
passed, and the #éda has not returned. Can it be that
she has not gone direct to the American coast, or is she
delayed by some piracies off Backcup? I think, how-
ever, that Ker Karraje would devote himself to the pro-
curing of the shells. Of course the works in Virginia may
not have finished them.

Any way, Serko shows no signs of impatience. He
always welcomes me as usual with his air of good-fellow-
ship, which I do not trust, and with reason. He affects
to inquire after the state of my health, urges me to com-
plete resignation, calls me Ali Baba, assures me there does
not exist in the whole world a more enchanting spot than
this cave of the Thousand and One Nights; that here I
am fed, warmed, lodged, clothed, without having to pay
either duty or tax, and that even at Monaco the in- ©
habitants of that happy principality do not enjoy an
existence more free from care.

Sometimes this satirical chatter makes the colour mount

to my face, and I am seized with a temptation to rush at