sea. They regard all such as their rightful harvest: the feeling is
in their blood, and I have many times argued in vain against it.
Once while I argued, here in Ile Lezan, an old man asked me, 'But,
Father, if it were not for such chances, why should any man choose to
dwell by the sea?' If, monsieur, you lived among them and knew their
hardships, you would see some rude sense in that question.

"To Lucien, feasting his eyes by stealth on the diamonds and counting
the days to his relief, the stones meant that Jeanne and happiness
were now close within his grasp. There would be difficulty, to be
sure, in disposing of them; but with Jeanne's advice--she had a
practical mind--and perhaps with Jeanne's help, the way would not be
hard to find. He was inclined to plume himself on the ease with
which, so far, it had been managed. His leaving the rings, and the
gems sewn within the camisole--though to be sure these were not
discovered for many hours--had been a masterstroke. He and his
comrades had been complimented together upon their honesty.

"The relief came duly; and in this frame of mind--a little sly,
but more than three parts triumphant--he returned to Ile Lezan and
was made welcome as something of a hero. (To do him credit, he had
worked hard in recovering the bodies from the wreck.) At all times
it is good to arrive home after a spell on the lighthouse.
The smell of nets drying and of flowers in the gardens, the faces on
the quay, and the handshakes, and the first church-going--they all
count. But to Lucien these things were for once as little compared
with the secret he carried. His marriage now was assured, and that
first evening--the Eve of Noel--he walked with Jeanne up the road to
the cottage, and facing it, told her his secret. They could be
married now. He promised it, and indicated the house with a wave of