nd the members of
an escort sitting, half starved, on a number of bags piled up in the
Suakin desert. And what do you think were in the bags?"

"I don't know," said Iris, keenly alert for deductions.

"Biscuits! They thought the bags contained patent fodder until I
enlightened them."

It was on the tip of her tongue to pounce on him with the comment:
"Then you have been an officer in the army." But she forbore. She had
guessed this earlier. Yet the mischievous light in her eyes defied
control. He was warned in time and pulled himself up short.

"You read my face like a book," she cried, with a delightful little
_moue_.

"No printed page was ever so--legible."

He was going to say "fascinating," but checked the impulse. He went on
with brisk affectation--

"Now, Miss Deane, we have gossiped too long. I am a laggard this
morning; but before starting work, I have a few serious remarks to
make."

"More digs?" she inquired saucily.

"I repudiate 'digs.' In the first place, you must not make any more
experiments in the matter of food. The eggs were a wonderful effort,
but, flattered by success, you may poison yourself."

"Secondly?"

"You must never pass out of my sight without carrying a revolver, not
so much for defence, but as a signal. Did you take one when you went
bird's-nesting?"

"No. Why?"

There was a troubled look in his eyes when he answered--

"It is best to tell you at once that before help reaches us we may be
visited by cruel and blood-thirsty savages. I would not even mention
this if it were a remote contingency. As matters stand, you ought to
know that such a thing may happen. Let us trust in God's goodness that
assistance may come soon. The island has seemingly been deserted for
many months, and therein lies our best chance of escape. But I am
obliged to warn you lest you should be taken unawares."

Iris was serious enough now.

"How do you know that such danger threatens us?" she demanded.

He countered readily. "Because I happen to have read a good deal about
the China Sea and its frequenters," he said. "I am the last man in the
world to alarm you needlessly. All I mean to convey is that certain
precautions should be taken against a risk that is possible, not
probable. No more."

She could not repress a shudder. The aspect of nature was so beneficent
that evil deeds seemed to be out of place in that fair isle. Birds were
singing around them. The sun was mounting into a cloudless s