Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 3).djvu/129

 'Yes; I remember that. He got away, they said, and was eaten by the sharks.'

'He got away, but he lives still. It was I who made his escape possible. He threw himself from the sea-wall and swam; I picked him up; in the darkness no one saw my boat. I carried him across to Sardinia, where men of his blood live in the forests and on the hills. I did it for you, because you pitied him.'

'You did a brave thing,' she said, and almost she smiled at him, and his heart was glad.

'I did it for you,' he said, and hesitated. Should he tell her?

'He was a bad man,' she answered. 'He was a murderer and a thief many times. But chained there I felt sorry for him, though he did betray me and steal the gold.gold.' [sic]

'What gold?' said the mariner quickly.

'Gold that was trusted to me,' she said, remembering how nearly she had betrayed herself.

'The gold of the Etruscan grave?' he said.

The blood went out of her lips with fear.