"Well, sir," replied the man, "the way of it is this. By turnin' a turtle over on its back you can always make certain that, if you're obliged to go away and leave it, you'll find it in the same place when you come back; because if a turtle's laid on its back it can't turn over again by itself, and so is perfectly helpless and unable to move." There were fourteen eggs in the "nest" in the sand; so Roger took off his coat, and, tying the arms together, made a sort of bag of it, into which he carefully put a few of the eggs. Then, carrying his parcel very carefully, they resumed their journey. They found no more eggs at that time, and discovered nothing further of importance, and shortly afterwards arrived back at the hut, having completed their walk round the islet. Irwin reported that the man Evans had called for water, and had seemed in great pain, but had revived a little after drinking, and was now again asleep. The two explorers deposited their burden of eggs, and told Jake of their hopes regarding the turtle, arranging to go down again later and watch for the creature, knowing how important it was to their health to secure as varied a diet as possible. But before setting out again they put a few of the eggs into the hot ashes of the fire and baked them in their shells. When they thought they would be sufficiently cooked, they took them out of the ashes, and roused Evans up with the news that another meal was ready for him. CHAPTER ELEVEN. DEATH OF WILLIAM EVANS, AND APPEARANCE OF A PIRATE VESSEL. It was with the utmost difficulty that they at length succeeded in arousing the unfortunate man to a sense of his surroundings. Ever since their landing on the sand-bank the poor fellow had been sinking with startling rapidity. It seemed as though prior to their appearance he had kept himself alive by a sheer effort of will, for the sole purpose of relating his story and putting the avengers on the trail of his former captain; and, this done, the strain was relaxed, and nature was claiming her due. Evans at last sat up with great difficulty, passing his hand over his forehead and gazing at his companions and around at the new hut as though he had never seen either them or it before.