es last summer, and
learned to row. I remember the oar as well as if it was my own; it's
got a smaller 'L' carved with a knife just below the button. There,
see for yourself."

Still George stood staring at me as though unwilling to be convinced
that the worst had happened.

"Look at that keg," I continued, "and see if it isn't the one they took
with them in the boat. If so, you'll find the small hole they made
with your knife."

On examination, the spot where the convicts had broached the anker was
clearly visible. There could no longer be any doubt as to how it came
to be floating on the water.

"Some of them must have got to land," muttered George doggedly.

"Not they!" I replied; "there wasn't a man of them could swim. Don't
you remember what Rodwood said? I know Lewis couldn't, because he told
us so last summer; and we remarked at the time how strange it was he
had never learned, when he had spent most of his life on the water.
Besides, what difference does it make to a man whether he can swim or
not, if he's flung into the water stupefied with drink?"

The oar dropped from my hands as I spoke, and for some minutes each
stood staring blankly in the other's face. That short space of silence
did as much as an hour's feverish discussion of the subject to impress
upon our minds how hazardous and almost hopeless our position had now
become. No gloomy underground dungeon in some ancient prison, made
secure by locks and bolts and watchful jailers, could have afforded
less chance of escape than in our case did this cavern; for even if a
boat had been waiting close outside, as neither of us could swim, there
was enough deep water between us and the sunshine to drown us twenty
times over. It was probable that even the smugglers only entered the
cave on rare occasions, for too frequent visits would draw attention to
the spot; and especially at this time of the year, close on Christmas,
the chances were a thousand to one against any boat coming near the
place till we had either died of starvation or been washed away in one
of the fierce storms which raged constantly during the winter months.
With the loss of the boat and its occupants all chance of communication
with the outer world was ended; and if we had been marooned on an
island or coral reef in the Pacific, far out of the usual track of
ships, there could hardly have been less prospect of a timely rescue.

Though all these thoughts flashed through our mi