I was, at least, so sunk in
sadness that I scarce remarked where I was going; and
chance (or some finer sense that lives in us, and only
guides us when the mind is in abeyance) conducted my
steps into a quarter of the island where the birds were
few. By some devious route, which I was unable to
retrace for my return, I was thus able to mount,
without interruption, to the highest point of land.
And here I was recalled to consciousness by a last
discovery.
The spot on which I stood was level, and commanded a
wide view of the lagoon, the bounding reef, the round
horizon. Nearer hand I saw the sister islet, the
wreck, the NORAH CREINA, and the NORAH'S boat
already moving shoreward. For the sun was now low,
flaming on the sea's verge; and the galley chimney
smoked on board the schooner.
It thus befell that though my discovery was both
affecting and suggestive, I had no leisure to examine
further. What I saw was the blackened embers of fire
of wreck. By all the signs, it must have blazed to a
good height and burned for days; from the scantling of
a spar that lay upon the margin only half consumed, it
must have been the work of more than one; and I
received at once the image of a forlorn troop of
castaways, houseless in that lost corner of the earth,
and feeding there their fire of signal.
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