The Englishman came in swiftly, picked up his pipe--which he had left on the stone--slipped across toward the window, moved a loosened stone and drew out from a cavity in the wall a green bundle from which some straps were hanging. These he buckled on as a body-harness. Stuart had never seen fingers that moved so quickly, or which had less appearance of hurry. A thought struck him. Impulsively, he leaped from the embrasure. A glitter told him that the gun was covering him. He spoke breathlessly. "Manuel expected me to kill Leborge. He'll kill me for not doing it." In answer to a commanding look of interrogation, Stuart went on: "I'm an American, and straight. I'll tell you all about it, later. Guess there isn't much time, now. Take me with you." Cecil knew men. He looked at the boy, piercingly, and answered: "Very well. If you've got the nerve." "I have!" Eye flashed to eye. Came the decision: "Your belt's too small. Take mine!" The Englishman unfastened his own belt, grasped the boy by the shoulders, spun him round, ran the belt under his arms and through the two sides of the harness he had strapped on himself. He took a step and a heave and both were on the window-sill. At the sight of the abyss below, a sudden panic caught Stuart's breath and heart, and he seemed to choke. "What do we do?" he gasped. "We jump!" said Cecil. They leaped clear. For a hundred feet they fell, and Stuart closed his eyes in that sickening dizziness which comes from a high fall. Then he felt Cecil's arm grip him in a bear hug, and, a second after, his breast bone seemed to cave in, as a sudden jerk and strain came on the strap by which he was bound to the Englishman. Instinctively he tried to squirm free, but the grip and the strap held firm. Then the falling motion changed into a slow rocking see-saw, coupled with a sense of extraordinary lightness, and Stuart, looking overhead, saw the outstretched circle of a modern parachute. CHAPTER V THE ISLE OF THE BUCCANEERS Swaying in sea-sick fashion, Stuart saw the forests, far below, seem to rise up to meet him. Under the influence of the double motion of drop and roll, the whole earth seemed to be rocking, and the sense of the void beneath him made Stuart feel giddy and faint. The fall was slower than he had expected. Soon, a damp heat, rising from below, warned the boy that they were approaching the ground, and, a second or two later, the Englishman said quietly: "We are going to hit the trees. Cover your face and head with your arms. You won't be hurt, but there is no sense in having one's eyes scratched out."