the _Marie Renaud_; and I fear--oh, I fear terribly--
that by and by, when we are nearing the end of our journey, they will
take some desperate step to effectually prevent your ever bearing
witness against them. Have you ever thought of that as a possible
danger to which you may be exposed?"

"Well, yes," said I; "I must confess that such a contingency has
suggested itself to me; but they will require my help to get their booty
home and landed; and I will make it my business to discuss this matter
with O'Gorman in such a manner as to convince him that he cannot do
without me. And meanwhile I must see if I cannot forestall any possible
action on their part by devising some plan which will enable us to
effect our escape in one of the boats when within easy distance of
land."

"Do you think such a thing possible?" she demanded, in much more
animated tones than those she had shortly before used.

"Why, yes," answered I. "That is to say, we must _make_ it possible; we
must endeavour to devise some definite scheme, to be carried out at the
very first favourable opportunity, and we must then devote all our
energies to so arranging matters that when the moment arrives everything
will be in readiness."

We discussed this topic at some length, with no very definite result,
however; and finally, as it appeared to be exercising a distinctly
depressing effect upon Miss Onslow's spirits, I changed the subject, and
we made our way down to the boat again, and so aboard the brig.

But as we entered the inner lagoon we found that all hands had knocked
off work and had crossed to their camp; and presently O'Gorman made his
appearance at the entrance of one of the tents, beckoning us to
approach. I waved my hand in assent, but made as though to put Miss
Onslow aboard the brig first, whereupon O'Gorman hailed that he wanted
us both to land and look at what had been found. So I put a bold face
upon it, and ran the boat in upon the beach, from which we walked
together up to O'Gorman's tent.

As we entered, the first thing that met my gaze was a rusty and
earth-grimed iron chest, measuring about two feet square by perhaps
sixteen inches deep, on either side of which sat a man with a brace of
cocked pistols in his belt, evidently on guard. The chest had been
fastened by two heavy padlocks of distinctly antiquated design, but
these had both been smashed, and the lid prised open, not without
inflicting some damage to the hinges. I