“Good-by nothing!” was Tempest’s rejoinder. “He may score here again, but the game isn’t over yet. No, by jiminy, it’s only just beginning, Dave,” he went on, warming up. “We’re all guessing now, but we’ll see who wins out in the long run. You can’t argue much with a man who is holding up a loaded gun at you, and he knows it. So far that has been his one big advantage――that and the low cunning of sneaking off ahead of us. It’s going to be a battle of wits, boy, and there’s absolutely no telling what may happen, because he is foxy.” “We are three to three,” Dave said. “Three to three and a gun at present,” Tempest corrected. “Great Mackerel! What are they doing with the _Nautilus_?” The beach dropped at a sharp angle at the place where the boat had been left, so that in spite of the falling tide she still remained almost afloat. Flagg and his two assistants were putting their shoulders to her bow and heaving her off. “They can’t be going to cast her adrift,” Tempest said, puzzled. “What would they gain by that?” “They could starve us into accepting their terms,” the boy suggested. Instead of leaving the _Nautilus_ to drift away onto the rocks, Flagg and his men climbed on board. “See, they are taking her over toward the _Firefly_,” said Tempest. “Well, they’ve captured her fairly. Still another point in their favor. Dave, boy, the battle is not going well with us. It’s about time for us to do a bit of scoring, but I shall feel like a piece of wet rag until I have had a good sleep. Jim, you did a bit of snoring yesterday. Do you think you could keep a watch on them while we turn in?” “I sleep to-morrow,” replied the Kanaka. “You sleep now.” He did not move from his position, leaning over the rock, while the others sought out a dry patch under a sheltering ledge; and like typical sailors they were both in the land of dreams a few moments later. It was broad daylight when they awoke, and the Kanaka still stood there like a statue. With Dave at his elbow, Tempest looked down from their secure nook; and for the first time they were able to get a clear view of Tai-o-Vai. The peak on which they stood dominated the whole island, enabling them to obtain a wonderful panoramic view. The place was virtually oval in shape, sloping down gradually on three sides from the hill to the shore, and covered nearly from end to end with the impenetrable mass of trees which had proved such a formidable obstacle in the darkness. Beyond the trees the sea, now calm again, lapped the beach lazily. On the fourth side of the hill the slope was precipitous, forming almost a cliff, overlooking the lagoon cupped in its semicircle of rocks. No pathway led down that untrodden ground, but it was possible to scramble to the sea by taking a zigzag route. “All is quiet in the enemy’s camp,” Tempest said. “There’s nobody moving about on the deck of the _Firefly_.”