of
thankful happiness, and Lord Ventnor, a silent listener who missed
neither word nor look, felt a deeper chill in his cold heart as he
realized that this woman's love could never be his. The knowledge
excited his passion the more. His hatred of Anstruther now became a
mania, an insensate resolve to mortally stab this meddler who always
stood in his path.

Robert hoped that his present ordeal was over. It had only begun. He
was called on to answer questions without number. Why had the tunnel
been made? What was the mystery of the Valley of Death? How did he
manage to guess the dimensions of the sun-dial? How came he to acquire
such an amazing stock of out-of-the-way knowledge of the edible
properties of roots and trees? How? Why? Where? When? They never would
be satisfied, for not even the British navypoking its nose into the
recesses of the world--often comes across such an amazing story as the
adventures of this couple on Rainbow Island.

He readily explained the creation of quarry and cave by telling them of
the vein of antimony embedded in the rock near the fault. Antimony is
one of the substances that covers a multitude of doubts. No one, not
excepting the doctors who use it, knows much about it, and in Chinese
medicine it might be a chief factor of exceeding nastiness.

Inside the cavern, the existence of the partially completed shaft to
the ledge accounted for recent disturbances on the face of the rock,
and new-comers could not, of course, distinguish the bones of poor
"J.S." as being the remains of a European.

Anstruther was satisfied that none of them hazarded the remotest guess
as to the value of the gaunt rock they were staring at, and chance
helped him to baffle further inquiry.

A trumpeter on board the _Orient_ was blowing his lungs out to
summon them to luncheon, when Captain Fitzroy put a final query.

"I can quite understand," he said to Robert, "that you have an
affection for this weird place."

"I should think so indeed," muttered the stout midshipman, glancing at
Iris.

"But I am curious to know," continued the commander, "why you lay claim
to the island? You can hardly intend to return here."

He pointed to Robert's placard stuck on the rock.

Anstruther paused before he answered. He felt that Lord Ventnor's dark
eyes were fixed on him. Everybody was more or less desirous to have
this point cleared up. He looked the questioner squarely in the face.

"In some parts of the world," he