ich
elevation he was enabled to obtain a clear view of the craft. She was
about three miles away, well to the southward of the dense column of
smoke rising from the blazing brig, and was edging away round the curved
outer margin of the reef, heading so as to pass to the southward of the
island in a westerly direction. She was too far distant, of course, to
enable Leslie to distinguish details with his unaided eye, but he could
see that she was a big craft, capable, he thought, of carrying quite
forty men, she showed a very large sail to the freshly blowing breeze,
and was skimming along at a very rapid pace.

This was as much as Leslie could make out at that distance; but it was
enough, and, groaning with dire apprehension of some dreadful evil, he
slid down the shrouds and went aft to the tiller. He could see through
the whole devilish scheme now. The gang who had set fire to the brig
were evidently only a small contingent of the expedition, and it had
been their duty to attract his attention and decoy him away from the
island while the others--headed without doubt by those scoundrels Sambo
and Cuffy--raided the camp.

That, Leslie savagely meditated, was undoubtedly what had happened.
And, meanwhile, where was Flora? What had been her fate? Had she
received sufficient warning to effect her escape to the Treasure-Cave,
which, armed with her revolvers, she could hold for hours against any
number of savages? Or had she been surprised? The thought of the
latter alternative plunged Leslie into a cold sweat, and set him to
muttering the most awful threats of vengeance. He had no room in his
mind for thought of the possible extent of irremediable damage that the
savages might have wrought in the camp; he could think of nothing but
Flora; could only hope and pray that she might have made good her
escape. The catamaran was sailing as well as ever, for there was a
strong breeze blowing, yet Leslie ground his teeth in a fever of
impatience at what he deemed her snail-like pace; for his first business
now must be to ascertain the fate of the girl he loved. The very worst
that could possibly have happened, apart from harm to her, was
comparatively unimportant. Yet, all the same, his mind once set at rest
about her, he would exact a terrible penalty from those daring
marauders; he would pursue them, ay, to their very island itself, if
need were; while, if he caught them at sea, not a man should survive to
organise ano