Dave spun round, leaving Tempest to deal with the first animal, and knocked his captive out with a lucky blow just as the Kanaka came rushing round the edge of the bushes. “Hoo-la! hoo-la!” Jim yelled in ecstasy; and rather than take any chances he despatched the little hog quickly. Tempest, meanwhile, was in difficulties. Before he could reach his pig it had extricated all but one foot from the net, and was careering madly away, dragging the net with it. Tempest tore after the quarry which was making instinctively for a run-way in the main jungle, but after he had run a dozen yards he caught his foot in the root of a tree. By the time he had picked himself up again the porker had bolted like a rabbit up the tunnel, shedding the net at the entrance as it went. He went back to the others and offered his congratulations to the boy. “That’s one to you, Dave,” he said. “He looks a nice young one, too. If I’m any judge he’d make a supper for the gods. I don’t believe I could stop a tortoise in a passage.” “Never mind,” Dave said. “It will be your turn next time, and anyway we couldn’t eat two pigs at once, even if we are starving shipwrecked mariners with only the stores off one ship to keep us alive.” The prize was conveyed back to the camp, where a heated discussion took place as to how it should be cooked. Tempest, who confessed he knew nothing about such matters, argued that it should be done one way. Dave, whose experience in the galley gave his word a certain degree of authority, protested that it should be cooked another way. Jim, on the other hand, declared it should be baked whole, in the ground, native fashion; and finally the other two gave in to him. They watched the process with great interest, and when it was ready to eat they unanimously decided that whatever Jim’s omelettes were like, no Fifth Avenue chef had anything on the Kanaka when it came to roast pork. On the morning following the pig hunt Tempest announced that, while the others were out fishing, he was off on a little exploration tour. Although the island was so small, there were many parts of it which they had not yet reached. In places it was difficult to get down to the beach, and at the northern end there were rugged peaks in a trackless district, where one had to climb laboriously. Dave and the Kanaka returned to the shore soon after noon, and were surprised when Tempest did not arrive for the midday meal. Not until the swift setting of the sun, however, did Dave grow anxious, and then he began to realize that something untoward must have happened, for Tempest had taken no food with him and the boy could think of no reason why his friend should remain away until after dark. He and Jim ascended the nearest hill and shouted continually, but no reply came from the silent jungle nor beyond. “Come on, let’s get some lanterns,” said the boy at length. “I’m going to make a search.”