The only remaining peril of discovery would come with the return of the absent boat, and the necessity of my encountering the giant negro.

Yet I was convinced even this would not prove serious.

If Cochose had glimpsed my features at all during the course of our desperate struggle on the deck of the sloop, the impression made on his mind must have been merely momentary; and, besides, he would never once conceive it possible that the same man could have reached the bark ahead of his return.

Even if such a suspicion dawned, I was now in a position to positively establish my arrival aboard the _Namur_ early the evening previous, and before their expedition had departed.
I felt so safe, and so content with my success thus far, as to already believe thoroughly in the final result of my mission.

This confidence developed almost into sheer recklessness.