Page:Cup of Gold-1929.djvu/184

Now he had dropped to his knees beside the silent figure.

“Water!” he cried to the nearest buccaneer, and when the fellow only stared at him: “Water! bring water—water!” His hand was hysterically jerking at a pistol in his belt. They brought him water in a hat. All the pirates saw their cold captain kneeling on the ground, stroking the damp, shining hair of Cœur de Gris.

The young man's eyes opened slowly and he tried to rise.

“l am sorry, sir. The pain in my head, you know— The sun sucked out my wits. But you must get up, sir! The men will lose respect for you if they see you kneeling here.”

“Lie still, boy! Lie quietly! You must not move yet. I am afraid. In a moment I thought you were dead, and all the world shriveled. Lie quietly! Now I am glad. You must not move. Now we will take the Cup of Gold together, and it shall be a chalice of two handles.” He lifted Cœur de Gris and carried him to the shade of a huge tree. The buccaneers rested on the ground while their lieutenant regained his strength.

Cœur de Gris was leaning back against the tree. He was smiling at the captain with a queer womanish affection.

“Am I like the Cockney?” Henry Morgan asked a little wistfully; “like the Cockney with fits?”

Cœur de Gris laughed.

“You know nothing at all about the man. You