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without haste and without hesitation, with fatal precision, as though
there were before him no yawning gulf and open grave. He murmured, "Be
easy. I follow you. I understand the sign that you are making me." His
eyes were fixed upon a certain spot in the sky, where the shadow was
deepest. The smile was still upon his face. The sky was perfectly black;
there was no star visible in it, and yet he evidently saw one. He
crossed the deck. A few stiff and ominous steps, and he had reached the
very edge.
"I come," said he; "Dea, behold, I come!"
One step more; there was no bulwark; the void was before him; he strode
into it. He fell. The night was thick and dull, the water deep. It
swallowed him up. He disappeared calmly and silently. None saw nor heard
him. The ship sailed on, and the river flowed.
Shortly afterwards the ship reached the sea.
When Ursus returned to consciousness, he found that Gwynplaine was no
longer with him, and he saw Homo by the edge of the deck baying in the
shadow and looking down upon the water.
THE END.
[
Footnote 1: As much as to say, the other daughters are provided for as
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