ey were
discovered at the beginning of this chapter, crawling cautiously along
the jungle path toward the beach.

Once there, in the shadow of the cliffs, they hastened to the spot where
the arms and stores from the _Chih' Yuen_ had been concealed when they
first landed, some of which had been left there when they went to build
the fort. If the Japanese had not discovered them, they should be there
still; and there they were soon found.

Frobisher distributed a rifle and cutlass to each man, saw that the
rifles were loaded and that the remaining cartridges were distributed as
far as they would go, then gave Drake a cutlass and revolver, and took
one of each himself. Then the little band crept quietly along toward
the place where the Japanese boats had been pulled up.

Nothing of this kind having been anticipated, it had not been deemed
necessary to leave a guard over the boats, and the fugitives had things
all their own way. Oars were muffled with pieces of the men's clothing,
and the boat was carried bodily down to the water's edge and placed
carefully in the water to avoid the noise created by running her down
the beach. There might be sentries on the destroyer and the store-ship
(although in the case of the latter this was not very probable, owing to
the concert proceeding on board); but if anyone should be watching on
the destroyer Frobisher hoped that his crew would be taken for a party
of the hunters, returned early for some reason, until it would be too
late to offer resistance. If there were no sentinels on guard--well,
attention to the fugitives would not be attracted by any undue
disturbance.

Quietly but quickly the men slid into the boat, and were soon on their
way toward the destroyer, lying about half a mile from the store-ship.
They were within a few yards of her when, to their astonishment and
momentary dismay, they were challenged--there was a sentry on watch,
after all!

The Japanese-speaking seaman replied to the challenge with a statement
that they had "returned early, as the sport had turned out to be poor";
and before the sentry could make up his mind whether or not he
recognised the voice, the boat's crew were on deck, and he had no
opportunity to rectify his mistake. He was silently overcome, gagged,
and bound in a trice, and in less than ten minutes the remainder of the
destroyer's men--most of them captured while enjoying a well-earned
nap--were in irons and confined, with a sentry