k, sir?"

"I feel sure it was."

"I wish we was birds just now. How we could fly right over the wood and
get back to the camp! Wonder what's for supper?"

"Birds," said Mark, stretching himself in a comfortable position upon
the palm leaves, and gazing at the great stars in the purple sky.

"Ah, yes," said Billy, "birds! and they'll be roasting at the fire now,
and spittering and sputtering, and smelling as nice as roast birds can
smell. I wish we was in camp."

He sighed and stretched himself on the leaves, grunting a little as he
felt the hard rock through.

"Aren't you very hungry, Mr Mark, sir?"

"No; I feel too fidgety about my father looking for us to want any
food."

"Ah, it's a bad thing to--Yah!--hah--hah--hah!"

Billy finished his sentence with a tremendous yawn, and then rustled the
leaves as he tucked some more of them beneath him.

"Roast birds," he muttered; "and then there'll be some o' them big
oyster things all cooked up in their shells!"

Mark did not answer, for though in his mind's eye he saw the camp fire,
he did not see the cooking, but the cooks, and thought of how anxious
his mother would be.

"I should have said they was mussels," said Billy, in a low voice.

"What, Billy?"

"Them shell-fish, sir, more like oysterses than--I mean more like muss--
muzzles--oysters--muzzles--muzzles!"

Mark raised himself upon his arm and looked at his companion, who was
dimly-seen in the starlight.

"Why, Billy, what's the matter?" he said. "Sleeping uneasy?"

"Easy it is, sir. Eh? Sleep. No, Mr Mark, sir. What say?--sleep,
sir. No; wide-awake as you are, sir."

"That's right," said Mark, gazing out once more at the softly glowing
stars. The crescent moon had gone down in a bed of clouds, and all
around the darkness seemed to grow deeper and softer, till it was as if
it could be touched, and everything was wonderfully still, save when
there came from the distance a sharp whistling that might have been from
a bird, but was more probably escaping steam.

Now and then Mark could see strange lights glowing, and then feel a
tremulous motion such as would be felt at home when a vehicle was
passing the house, and as if this might be thunder, it was generally
after he had noticed a flashing light playing over the trees, sometimes
bright enough to reveal their shapes, but as a rule so faint as to be
hardly seen.

He thought about his father going back wearied out with a long search.
Th