"What?" asked several excited people at once. "That's tellin'," said Mr. Brown; "just you wait an' you'll see somethin' to your advantage, same as it says here." It was terribly hard to have to leave the treasure at this thrilling stage, but there was nothing else to be done, especially as it was getting late, and they would have to hasten their steps as it was, if they were to reach home in time for a proper tidy-up before breakfast. Mamma was very particular about many things, but she was particularly particular about coming to table with clean hands and freshly brushed hair. * * * * * They were at the trysting-place long before half-past twelve. Nobody had a watch, but the Australian children had a device of their own for telling the time. "You stand on one foot," Hugh explained, "and twirl round with your other big toe in the sand--like this. That makes a circle to fit your own shadow. Then you stand in the middle and see where the shadow hits the circle. And then you guess the time near enough for all practical purposes. It's quite simple." "Did you invent that sort of clock yourself?" Mollie asked deferentially. "There wasn't much to invent," Hugh replied modestly; "it's on the same principle as a sundial. I only applied my legs." "God invented Hugh's legs and the sun," Grizzel said; "Hugh only put in the squiggly toe." "But that's just it," Jerry argued; "like Newton and the apple. The simple things are there all the time, and no one sees them till the right person comes along. I think that's a jolly ingenious idea. You'd have to know exactly where due north was, of course, and you'd have to have the sun. That's the trouble in London; the sun just slops about the sky, and half the time you can't see him at all." The children now twirled round and round like dervishes, making shadow-clocks till there were hardly any shadows left, as the sun rose higher and higher in the heavens. It also became warmer and warmer; so they decided to sit in a row with their backs to the sea and their eyes firmly fixed upon the hut, determined not to miss the sight of the treasure for a single moment. "Let's play 'I went to market with a green umbrella'," Prue suggested, "and we can think of all the things the treasure might be." The green umbrella had been to market about twenty times when a voice behind them made them all start. "Well, now--to be sure!" And there was Mr. Brown, with nothing in his hands--no sack upon his back. "How _did_ you come, Mr. Brown?" Mollie asked. "We looked and looked." "Grand sentries you'd make--all lookin' one way," said Mr. Brown. "Suppose you look at the sea for a change." Six pairs of eyes turned to gaze at the sea--and six pairs of feet instantly began to run, for there, drawn up on the beach, was a boat!