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“Waste!” remarked Stewart presently. “Futility and waste! And, like a good Scot, I hate both!”

It was sad to reflect on the results of the expedition: the plants thrown overboard; Bligh and his companions probably drowned or killed by savages; the mutineers, desperate and unhappy, planning to hide away forever from the face of mankind; ourselves forced to share the same hard fate.

Later, in the privacy of the berth, I told Stewart of my interview with Christian and of the gloomy prospect ahead of us. “We must tell Morrison as soon as possible,” he said.

He was silent for some time, his thin, bronzed face expressionless. At last he looked up. “At least I’ll see Peggy.”

“That’s certain, if you give your parole.”

“I’d give that, and more, for a glimpse of her!” He rose abruptly and began to pace back and forth nervously. I said nothing, and presently he went on in a low voice: “Forgive me for inflicting my thoughts on you—seamen are sentimental, and I have been long at sea. But Peggy might be the means of effecting our escape—I can think of no other.”