ur whereabouts, and recommending the bearer to her good
offices, before he proceeded to put his plans into execution, the night
being favourable for the attempt."

"There is no time like the present," I continued to Summers. "The night
is dark, and altogether favourable for the enterprise. I have the
locality fresh in mind, so I shall go at once."

"And when do you intend to return?" asked Bob.

"Ah!" I replied, "that is more than I can tell you. You may depend
upon it, I shall not stay an hour longer than is absolutely necessary
for obtaining the required information, but whether I shall be able to
get out again when that is obtained, it is impossible to say. There is
one thing you must do, Summers, and that is, keep a constant lookout,
from the time I leave you until I turn up again, and if you observe
anything unusual inshore, leading you to suppose I am attempting to get
out, do the best you can to help me. I shall leave a note with you for
the skipper, explaining what I intend to do; and that note I want you to
take on board, and deliver into his own hands, the first thing in the
morning."

I then set about writing the note, and by the time that I had finished,
Jean had also brought his communication to a close. He passed it over
the table for me to read, and I found that it was substantially to the
same effect as I had suggested, but written in his own homely and not
very precise style of composition. I looked it very carefully through
to see that there was no covert suggestion therein of a character
intended to betray me; but as far as I could see it was a perfectly
straightforward affair from beginning to end.

This matter settled, I borrowed a pair of breeches, and the long boots
belonging to one of them; and the dirty ragged canvas overalls of the
other; topping off with a dilapidated blue worsted cap which I had been
wearing continually since joining the "Mouette," and my rig-out was
complete.

I intended pulling boldly ashore in the boat belonging to the captured
fishermen, that being infinitely preferable to my mind to swimming
ashore as I had originally proposed; so, as soon as I was ready I sat
down once more, and questioned them very minutely respecting the
position of the landing-place, the locality of _la mere's_ domicile, and
everything else I could think of likely to be of service in my
undertaking.

Jean, the elder of the two, replied freely to all my inquiries; adding
such informat