rther, could he see anything of her anywhere along the inner
edge of the reef, whither he thought they might have gone for the
purpose of obtaining a few fish. It was then that, for the first time,
the suspicion dawned upon him that they might have left the island
altogether, with the intention of attempting to make their way back to
their own people, and a further search at length convinced him of the
accuracy of his surmise; for a second visit to the hut showed that not
only were its usual occupants absent, but they had taken with them all
their trivial belongings; while a further investigation led to the
discovery that they had helped themselves to a few such trifles as a
pair of tomahawks, a few yards of canvas, some light line, a small keg--
presumably to hold a supply of water; a bag or two of assorted nails, a
couple of fishing lines, and possibly a few other unimportant odds and
ends. His first feeling at this discovery was one of vexation; for
ignorant though these savages were, and difficult as he had found it to
make them understand his wishes, they represented a certain amount of
brute strength that he had already found most useful, and doubtless
would have found even more useful later on, when he had succeeded in
making them understand more clearly what he desired them to do. But a
little further reflection enabled him to realise that in seizing the
first favourable opportunity to get away from the island and attempt to
return to their own kindred and people, they were only acting upon a
perfectly natural and commendable impulse; they were, in fact, actuated
by precisely the same feeling that had dominated himself ever since he
had been on the island, and were doing precisely what he hoped
eventually to do. And, having arrived at this conclusion, he dismissed
the incident from his mind, and reverted to the same plan of life that
had been his prior to the arrival of Cuffy and Sambo upon the scene.

The following day was devoted by Leslie to the task of procuring a
suitable spar to serve as a new mast for the catamaran, and restoring
that craft to her former serviceable condition. And it was while he was
thus engaged that the thought first entered his mind that the accident
by which the catamaran had become dismasted might possibly have been a
blessing in disguise, since, but for that accident, the two savages
might, by a not intricate process of reasoning, have arrived at the
conclusion that such a craft