a star it was easy enough to follow the
southerly bend taken by the canoe in skirting this barrier, while their
ears caught the murmur of the swift current amid the numerous tiny
channels of the rocks. Suddenly this swirl and hum of fast-flowing
water ceased. Elsie and Gray became aware that Suarez was cautiously
drawing himself inboard again. Then his paddle dipped with a noiseless
stroke; the canoe was inside the Alaculof harbor.

The midnight blackness was now something that had a sense of actual
obstruction in it. It seemed that a hand put forth would encounter a
wall. The tide was here, but no perceptible current. For all they
could tell to the contrary, they might have been floating in Charon's
boat across some Stygian pool.

For a minute or two, Elsie's brave heart failed her. Here was a
difficulty which desperate courage could not surmount. There might be
dozens of canoes moored on all sides, but to discover them in this
pitch darkness was so obviously impossible that she almost made up her
mind to abandon this part of her enterprise. Yet the narrow-beamed
Fuegian craft she was in would hold only four more occupants, and that
with a certain risk and unwieldiness. She was as determined as ever to
cross the bay and endeavor to communicate with the imprisoned men. But
she recognized the absurdity of the thought that Courtenay and
Tollemache would consent to escape in the canoe and leave the others to
their fate, even if such a thing were practicable. Oddly enough, the
one person whose daring might reasonably be suspected, gave no signs of
the pangs of doubt. Suarez pushed forward resolutely. He knew what
Elsie had forgotten--that in each canoe used by the Indians there was a
carefully preserved fire, whose charcoal embers retained some heat and
glow all night. The first intimation of this fact was revealed by the
pungent fumes which environed them. Elsie could not help uttering a
little gasp of relief. There was a slight movement in front. Gray
leaned back and touched her hand.

"Suarez says," he whispered, "that you are to be ready with your tow
ropes. As he secures each canoe he will pass it along to me. You will
be able to see its outlines by the dim glimmer of the fire. But how
will you manage about the dog? He may cause an alarm."

Much to Joey's disgust, he was forthwith muzzled with a piece of rope,
not that this device would stop him effectually from barking, but Elsie
thought he w