"No," said I, meditatively, "no; I cannot think that. There are certainly one or two circumstances connected with his behaviour that I cannot at present fully understand, and perhaps we shall now never know whether he was really faithful or not; but I still believe him to be so, and I feel confident that, if he cannot help us in any other way, he and Forbes between them will devise some means for procuring our speedy rescue. Now, I am off for the beach. You, I suppose, will remain here; you can scarcely do better to-night, and it is desirable that I should know exactly where to find you again without difficulty, should any unforeseen contingency arise." While I was speaking, Miss Merrivale had risen to her feet impetuously, with all the eager, determined look in her face of one who is about to say or do something of a very decisive character; but if such was her intention she checked herself, seemingly, at the moment when the words were about to escape her lips, and contented herself by saying instead-- "Pray be _very_ careful what you do, captain; remember that we are all now utterly dependent upon _you_!" I assured her that she might depend absolutely upon my discretion-- smiling, rather bitterly, meanwhile, at the reflection that, throughout this business at least, my discretion had been by no means brilliantly conspicuous--and so, with a bow, left the little party clustered together upon the white sand; a curious, yet pretty, picture to any one who could have been suddenly transported from the surroundings of civilisation to that lonely island of the Pacific.