ore I could not very well judge
what size they might be; but I knew that they must be fairly big craft,
each carrying a considerable number of men, judging by the multitudinous
number of flashes that sparkled from their paddles as they swung
rhythmically into and out of the water: and they were all keeping line
too, for the whole ten swung up into view together on the crest of a
sea, and then disappeared again in the trough, with almost mathematical
regularity and precision. Without a doubt the anticipated invasion of
our island by the savages was about to take place; and, equally without
a doubt too, the invaders must gain a footing upon our territory before
we were prepared to quit it, unless a plan could be devised whereby
their advance might be delayed for some two or three hours. As these
thoughts flashed through my mind I anxiously scanned the surface of the
ocean for other canoes, but could find only the ten which I had
originally counted. Then, without wasting time in ascending to the
summit of the crater, I set off at a run and raced at my utmost speed
all the way back to our cavern.

It was downhill all the way, and despite the intense heat I do not think
I was more than twenty minutes in covering the distance. Once inside
the cavern I provided myself with a sufficient number of torches for my
purpose, lighted half a dozen of them to enable me to see what I was
about, and then proceeded to block the entrance securely from the inside
with the stones which we had already provided for that express purpose.
This done, I opened the case of ammunition which we kept stored in the
cavern, loaded a gun and a brace of revolvers, thrust the latter in my
belt, crammed my pockets and the bosom of my shirt with cartridges, and,
seizing a torch, hurried away through the tunnel to the shipyard in
South-west Bay, where I found my companions strenuously at work upon the
completion of the cradle, blissfully ignorant of the fact that the
savages were at that moment within half a dozen miles of us.

They glanced at me with a somewhat startled expression as I dashed down
the beach toward them with the gun in my hand and the revolvers in my
belt, and my face streaming with perspiration; and Cunningham shouted:

"Hillo, old chap, you're hot, and look as though you had been hurrying.
What's up? You surely don't mean to say that--"

"The savages are coming?" I interrupted. "That's just what I do mean
to say, then. They are w