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"I found out later that if I had broken overnor in New South Wales would have sent a ship to get theain an escaped prisoner" Scaggs h theat the ships in the harbor "After I returned home, I saw no reason to tell the story of the Gladiator's raft"

"You never saw theain after you and Cochran set sail for Sydney?"

Scaggs shook his head "A tearful goodbye it was, too, Betsy and Jess standing on the beach holding their baby boys and Marion's daughter, looking for all the world like a happy mother and father They found a life that wasn't possible in the civilized world" He spat out the word "civilized"

"And Cochran, as to stop hi out?"

Scaggs' eyes glimmered faintly "As I mentioned, he also had a secret he didn't want known, certainly not if he ever wished to go to sea again He went doith the Zanzibar when she was lost in the South China Sea back in '67"

"Haven't you ever wondered how they made out?"

"No need to wonder," Scaggs replied slyly "I know"

Carlisle's eyebrows raised "I'd be grateful for an explanation"

"Four years after I departed, an Ahted the island and stood in to fill her water casks Jess and Betsy met the crew and traded fruits and fresh fish for cloth and cooking pots They told the captain of the whaler that they were missionaries ere stranded on the island after their ship had been wrecked Before long, other whalers began stopping by for water and food supplies One of the ships traded Betsy seeds for hats she'd woven out of pal several acres of arable land for vegetables"

"How do you know all this?"

"They began sending out letters with the whalers"

"They're still alive?" asked Carlisle, his interest aroused

Scaggs' eyes saddened "Jess died while fishing six years ago A sudden squall capsized his boat

Betsy said it looked as if he struck his head and drowned Her last letter, along with a packet, arrived only two days ago You'll find it in the center drawer offrom some sort of disease of the stomach"

Carlisle rose and crossed the bedroos had used on all his voyages after the Gladiator went down He pulled a small packet wrapped in oilskin from the drawer and opened it Inside he found a leather pouch and a folded letter He returned to his chair, slipped on his reading glasses and glanced at the words