"He must have executed this elaborate piece of penmanship at 'Monella Lodge'," said Jack, "and brought it with him in case his journey here should be in vain. He's a good fellow! Knowing, as we do, how he and all his tribe abhor this wood and the mountain, we can appreciate the devotion that led him to screw up his courage so far. And then to have come for nothing! It's too bad, poor chap! What a pity we could not have got down here and seen him! Plainly he had some hope we might return, or he would not have left this simple yet ingeniously contrived message for us!" "His hope would be but a faint one at best," Leonard replied gravely. "Having been here and found the entrance fast closed, and after our failing to make any signals, as arranged, I fear he will carry back an alarming tale to Georgetown." "I fear so too, Leonard," Jack assented very seriously. "They will be terribly alarmed about us; worse than if he had gone straight back without coming here." That evening, after they had cooked their evening meal, they sat by the smouldering fire, both silent and both thoughtful. Jack smoked away moodily at his pipe; Leonard was absolutely idle, except that he turned his eyes, now on the glow of failing daylight overhead, then down at the scene around him. Each knew what was in the other's mind; yet neither liked to be the first to speak of it. But at last Jack spoke. "It's no use blinking the fact, Leonard," he began, "that this visit of Matava here and the account he is sure to carry back is a serious matter. Our friends will be more than alarmed; they will, perhaps, give us up for dead. This raises the whole question again, What are we going to do here, how long are we going to stay, and what about getting back? We can't stay here for ever--at least, _I_ certainly don't mean to. I don't like the idea of going away and leaving you here. Where are we drifting to?" Leonard was gloomy. He had been so more or less ever since that conversation with Monella about Ulama. For a few minutes he made no reply; then said, with a tinge of bitterness in his tone, "You must wait awhile, Jack. I am not prepared to say yet, but--it may be I shall be ready to clear out soon with you." Jack raised his eyebrows and gave a brief, but keen, glance at his friend. Then he smoked on stolidly for a while and ruminated.