n."

A strangely flickering light dispelled the pall that hung above the
hilltop. The cloud of smoke or steam, rising from the crater and which
they had first seen that afternoon, was now illuminated and shot
through with rays of light evidently reflected from the bowels of the
hill.

"The volcano is surely alive!" cried the young man.

The crew, loafing on the forecastle, saw the phenomenon, and their
chattering voices rose in a chorus of excitement. Tyke came up from
below and joined Drew and the captain's daughter. The glare of the
volcano illuminated the night, and they could see each other's features
distinctly.

"Looks like we'd stirred things up over there," chuckled the old man.
"There are more'n ghosts of dead and gone pirates guarding that
treasure."

"It--it is rather terrifying, isn't it?" Ruth suggested.

"It is to them ignorant swabs for'ard," growled Tyke. "Good thing,
though. They'll be too scared to want to roam over the island. We
want it to ourselves till we find the loot. Don't we, Allen?"

"That's true. The disturbance over there may not be an unmitigated
evil," was the young man's rejoinder.

Captain Hamilton called Ruth through the open window of his cabin, and
she bade Grimshaw and Allen Drew good night and went below. Tyke
remained only long enough to finish his cigar, then he departed.

The light over the volcano faded, the rumblings ceased. Drew, in his
rubber-soled shoes, paced the deck alone; but he could not be seen ten
feet away, for he wore dark clothes.

He knew that Mr. Rogers had long since gone to his room. Most of the
crew had either sought their bunks or were stretched out on the
forecastle hatch. Yet he heard a low murmur of voices from amidships.
When he paced to that end of his walk, the voices reached him quite
clearly and he recognized that of the one-eyed mate. The other man he
knew to be Bingo, the only English sailor aboard--a shrewd and
rat-faced little Cockney.

"Blime me, Bug-eye! but wot Hi sye Hi means. The devil 'imself's near
where there's so much brimstone. If that hull bloomin' 'ill blows hup,
where'll we be, Hi axes ye?"

"Jest here or hereabouts," growled Ditty.

Drew stepped nearer and frankly listened to the conversation.

"Hi'm as 'ungry for blunt as the next bloke, an' ye sye there's plenty
hin it----"

"Slathers of it, Bingo," said the mate earnestly. "Why, man! some of
these islands down here are rotten with buried pirate