"I will not pretend to misunderstand you," he said. "If the Brazilians do not mean to play the game, it would be a just punishment to let them rush on their own doom. But De Sylva may not agree with this fop of an officer, and, in any event, we must go straight with him until he shows his teeth." "You seem to dislike Captain San Benavides," she said inconsequently. "I regard him as a brainless ass," he exclaimed. "Somehow, that sounds like a description of a dead donkey, which one never sees." "Mademoiselle!" came a voice from the lip of the ravine. "One can hear him, though," laughed Hozier, with a warning pressure that suspiciously resembled a hug. These two were children, in some respects, quicker to jest than to grieve, better fitted for mirth than tragedy. They moved out from their niche, and San Benavides blustered into vehement French. "We are going to the landing-place before it is too dark," he muttered angrily. "We must not show a light; in a few minutes the path will be most dangerous. Please make haste, mademoiselle. We did not know where you had gone." "The men knew," suggested Hozier in the girl's ear. He dared not trust either his temper or his vocabulary. "We shall lose no time, now, monsieur," said Iris, hurrying on. "This way then. No, we do not pass the cave. We go right round the cliff. Permit me, mademoiselle. I am acquainted with each step." He took her hand. Philip followed. He was young enough to long for an opportunity to tell San Benavides that he was a puppy, a mongrel puppy. Just then he would have given a gun-metal case, filled with cigars--the only treasure he possessed--for a Portuguese dictionary. After a really difficult and hazardous descent, they found the others awaiting them in a rock-shrouded cove. The barest standing-room was afforded by a patch of shingle and detritus. Alongside a flat stone lay three broad planks tied together with cowhide. The center plank was turned up at one end. This was the catamaran, which de Sylva had dignified by the name of boat. The primitive craft rested in a black pool in which the stars trembled, though they were hardly visible as yet in the brighter sky. The water murmured in response to the movement of the tide, but to the unaided eye there was no vestige of a passage through the volcanic barrier that reared itself on every hand. "Were 'ave you bin?" growled Coke. "We've lost a good ten minnits. You ought to 'ave known, Hozier, that it's darkest just after sunset." "We could not have started sooner, sir." "W'y not? We were kep' waitin' up there, searchin' for you." "That was our best slice of luck to-day. Had any of you appeared on the ledge you would have been seen from the launch." "Wot launch?" "The launch that visited us this morning. Ten minutes ago she was standing by at the foot of the rock." Philip spoke slowly and clearly. He meant his news to strike home. As he anticipated, De Sylva broke in.