in the palms at its foot. It seemed
difficult to believe that there had been such a tumult on the spot so
short a time before.

Again with infinite care we crept down to the buildings, this time,
however, without encountering a soul. The first was empty, so was the
second, and so was the third. This result was quite unexpected, and
rendered the situation even more mysterious than before.

By the time we had thoroughly explored the plateau and its surroundings
it was nearly daylight, and still we had discovered no trace of the
missing man. Just as the sun rose above the sea line we descended the
hill again and commenced a second search along the beach, with no better
luck, however, than on the previous occasion. Wetherell and our
assailants seemed to have completely disappeared from the island.

About six o'clock, thoroughly worn out, we returned to the spot where
the boat was waiting for us. What was to be done? We could not for
obvious reasons leave the island and abandon the old gentleman to his
fate, and yet it seemed useless to remain there looking for him, when he
might have been spirited away elsewhere.

Suddenly one of the crew, who had been loitering behind, came into view
waving something in his hand. As he approached we could see that it was
a sheet of paper, and when he gave it into my hands I read as follows:--

_"If you cross the island to the north beach you will find a small cliff
in which is a large cave, a little above high-water mark. There you will
discover the man for whom you are searching."_

There was no signature to this epistle, and the writing was quite
unfamiliar to me, but I had no reason to doubt its authenticity.

"Where did you discover this?" I inquired of the man who had brought it.

"Fastened to one of them prickly bushes up on the beach there, sir," he
answered.

"Well, the only thing for us to do now is to set off to the north shore
and hunt for the cave. Two of you had better take the boat back to the
yacht and ask the captain to follow us round."

As soon as the boat was under weigh we picked up our rifles and set off
for the north beach. It was swelteringly hot by this time, and, as may
be imagined, we were all dead tired after our long night's work.
However, the men knew they would be amply rewarded if we could effect
the rescue of the man for whom we had been searching, so they pushed on.

At last we turned the cape and entered the bay which constituted the
north end