And the other was, that although there seemed about as much likelihood of my ever seeing Berwick again as of being made King of England, I must do my utmost to save my strength and my life.

I had a wealth of incentives--Maisie, my mother, Mr.Lindsey, youth, the desire to live; and now there was another added to them--the desire to circumvent that cold-hearted, cruel devil, who, I was now sure, had all along been up to some desperate game, and to have my revenge and see justice done on him.

I was not going to give in without making a fight for it.
But it was a poor chance that I had--and I was well aware of it.

There was small prospect of fishing boats or the like coming out that evening; small likelihood of any coasting steamer sighting a bit of a speck like me.

All the same, I was going to keep my chin up as long as possible, and the first thing to do was to take care of my strength.