ly the following morning the four within the little cabin by the
beach were awakened by the booming of a cannon. Clayton was the first
to rush out, and there, beyond the harbor's mouth, he saw two vessels
lying at anchor.

One was the Arrow and the other a small French cruiser. The sides of
the latter were crowded with men gazing shoreward, and it was evident
to Clayton, as to the others who had now joined him, that the gun which
they had heard had been fired to attract their attention if they still
remained at the cabin.

Both vessels lay at a considerable distance from shore, and it was
doubtful if their glasses would locate the waving hats of the little
party far in between the harbor's points.

Esmeralda had removed her red apron and was waving it frantically above
her head; but Clayton, still fearing that even this might not be seen,
hurried off toward the northern point where lay his signal pyre ready
for the match.

It seemed an age to him, as to those who waited breathlessly behind,
ere he reached the great pile of dry branches and underbrush.

As he broke from the dense wood and came in sight of the vessels again,
he was filled with consternation to see that the Arrow was making sail
and that the cruiser was already under way.

Quickly lighting the pyre in a dozen places, he hurried to the extreme
point of the promontory, where he stripped off his shirt, and, tying it
to a fallen branch, stood waving it back and forth above him.

But still the vessels continued to stand out; and he had given up all
hope, when the great column of smoke, rising above the forest in one
dense vertical shaft, attracted the attention of a lookout aboard the
cruiser, and instantly a dozen glasses were leveled on the beach.

Presently Clayton saw the two ships come about again; and while the
Arrow lay drifting quietly on the ocean, the cruiser steamed slowly
back toward shore.

At some distance away she stopped, and a boat was lowered and
dispatched toward the beach.

As it was drawn up a young officer stepped out.

"Monsieur Clayton, I presume?" he asked.

"Thank God, you have come!" was Clayton's reply. "And it may be that
it is not too late even now."

"What do you mean, Monsieur?" asked the officer.

Clayton told of the abduction of Jane Porter and the need of armed men
to aid in the search for her.

"MON DIEU!" exclaimed the officer, sadly. "Yesterday and it would not
have been too late. Today and it may be