y the arm, and took him to the
tree, pointing out the hole made by the bullet.

There was a wondering look on the Chief's face. He looked at the weapon,
and then at the hole. There was a question in the peculiar guttural
sounds of his language, which slowly came from his lips. Evidently the
Chief wanted to know something.

Ah! he knew what it was. What made the hole? George took the weapon, and
extracted one of the bullets, and then pointed to the hole in the tree.
It was plain that even this did not satisfy him. Better still; why not
dig out the bullet; and as he thought of it he instinctively reached in
his pocket for the knife.

Then he remembered. One of his captors had it. Without any ceremony he
walked over to the man who had it, and by motions indicated that he
wanted the knife. The savage was mute. He boldly searched the folds of
the rude clout, and without a protest on the part of the savage he
brought forth the coveted knife.

This action was indeed a surprise to the Chief. A frown gathered on the
Chief's face. George saw it, and really trembled for the first time, as
he saw the eyes of the Giant riveted on the knife, and then turned to
the culprit. The latter fell to the ground, and muttered something, and
instantly the two others were also seized, as they uncovered the other
belongings and laid them before the Chief.

George looked on the scene with genuine regret. The culprits were led
away, and he speculated on their fate. But the Chief's eyes immediately
returned to the hole in the tree, while the gaze of the others rested on
the cartridges, the watch and the field glasses. The knife was in
George's hand, and he slowly opened it whereat the appearance of the
blade startled the Chief. He was all eagerness now, so George closed the
blade and opened it again, and then cut a circle around the bullet hole
and chipped the wood away.

There was the bullet, and he slowly drew it forth, a shapeless bit of
lead. When he had deposited it in the Chief's hand, he laid one of the
cartridges alongside, and also showed the empty shell. Then he quietly
laid the closed knife in the Chief's hand and stood back with his arms
folded, as though he owned the entire Island.

If the action of the Chief counted for anything the boy did have
everything in sight. The Chief returned the revolver to George, and then
began to examine the articles before him. The most interesting appeared
to be the cartridge belt. He looked at t