ept on toward the
beach, away from the direction of Thirkle's camp, I knew he was not going
back to the others, and reasoned that he would hardly dare to return to
Thirkle, who had probably missed the sack of gold, or would demand
explanations which Petrak would have difficulty in giving.

I picked up the knife and went and looked at Long Jim. Seeing he was dead
I took his pistols; but gave him scant attention, being afraid Thirkle
or Buckrow might be about, investigating the sound of the shots. Petrak's
estimates on the distance of their hiding-place had been rather vague.

I turned away to the west in the direction I felt sure the trail must be,
and, when the ground was clear, ran as fast as I could. I made about half
a mile in as straight a line as I could, and then began to worry; for,
although the ground had sloped in front of me, I felt that I should have
crossed the bed of the stream which was the trail we had followed.

I kept on, my face and hands scratched by prickly vines and my clothing
torn by fighting through thickets, and a panic began to grow on me that I
was lost, although I refused to admit it. I soon had to stop running from
exhaustion, the torment of the heat and thirst; and the four big pistols
dragged at my belt and the ammunition in my pockets began to hang heavy.
I began to fear that darkness would come on before I could find the
trail.

Despair began to get the upper hand, when I caught the dull boom of a
pistol-shot, and it so startled me that I could not decide the direction
it came from. I stopped to listen, afraid that Thirkle had found Captain
Riggs and Rajah.

Soon there was another report, and then a third, and what puzzled me most
was that they seemed to be just where I had come from. The echoes came
back to me from the hills and died away in dismal reverberations in the
jungle. It seemed to be some signal, but, whether from the captain or
Thirkle, I had no way of knowing.

I was tempted to fire a shot in reply, but, deciding to wait for another,
I turned in my tracks and started back, although not on the same trail I
had come over, but to the right of it.

I blamed myself for leaving the captain, for I should have kept with him,
no matter what happened. I had made a fine mess of my scouting trip, but
found some excuse for myself in the fact that I did right in following
Long Jim and Petrak, and had a good reason to believe that they were
going to the pirate camp.

I tried to re