g the two men. The old Chief, Beralsea, was taken
over to see Walter, in order to identify him if possible, and then Harry
suggested that Ta Babeda might know something of his early history, as
Walter was found a prisoner at his village when John and the boys
arrived there.

Beralsea had never seen nor heard of him, and Ta Babeda gave the
following account of his capture: "About three years previously several
men, of whom Walter was one, arrived at the island, on a small boat,
something like the one carried by the _Pioneer_, and which was used at
the landing."

(It should be stated that one of the boats, and probably, the one
referred to, was the identical lifeboat, No. 3, which the boys had
fitted up for use on the _Pioneer_.)

"This boat was kept by them at the inlet directly east of the cave where
the Korinos were lodged. I did not know anything of this for some time,
but the Korinos learned of the presence of the men, and my warriors were
set to watch the men. A few days afterwards, another boat, much smaller,
appeared with two men, but from all appearances they were a different
party, and after they had a conference, it appeared as though there was
trouble between the different parties."

"We were about to close in on them, when at the height of their quarrel,
but they caught sight of us, and joined in resisting the attack against
us. With the guns they had we were no match for them, so we had to
retire to the village.

"The next morning we learned that they had gone, and on searching the
shore found something with marks on, it, that had no meaning to us so it
was destroyed."

"Was it something like this?" asked Harry, handing him a sketch.

The Chief studied it for a few moments, and answered: "It seems to me it
was like that. The marks were something like these," and he pointed to
the crosses.

Harry had made the identical marking which were on the two skulls,
which, it will be remembered, showed the characters + V, and below these
three X X X, followed by a star.

"I suspected as much," said John. "They were, quite possibly, on the
same quest. But where did they get the information?" And he turned to
the Professor for a possible explanation.

The latter was now thoroughly interested. "Unless Walter chooses to
tell, the matter may not be solved, unless Clifford recovers, and even
though he should regain his physical powers, the mind may have relapsed
into its late condition."

By agreement John and