One night he woke up suddenly. The boat was strangely still. Light as had been the unceasing purr of the turbines, its cessation had instantly aroused him. He made his way to the deck. The steamer swayed gently in the heave of the sea. From the east came the low murmur of breakers on the shore, sounding like a distant waterfall. The dim outline of dark hills against a less dark sky could be distinguished, and that was all. Mackeller paced the deck until daylight, when the steamer got under weigh again, and cautiously approached the shore. One of the ship’s boats was swung into the water, and under Mackeller’s guidance sounded with a lead the depths of the channel, the yacht crawling after them, until at last it entered the river. By nine o’clock it was moored alongside the gold fields. A few minutes later Lord Stranleigh appeared on deck, well-groomed, clear-eyed, and fresh as a youth whose night’s rest has been undisturbed. He expressed no surprise on seeing the position of his steamer, but merely remarked to his captain: “That was rather a good shot, old man, considering the size of the target and the distance. When did you sight the coast?” “At four bells, sir.” “Did you need to cruise up and down to find the spot?” “No, sir.” “Look at that, now, and yet Maekeller thinks we’re going to be trapped.” After breakfast Lord Stranleigh gave orders that the steamer should proceed upstream to the head of navigation, wherever that was, so they cast off, and began to explore. They discovered that the stream they were navigating was merely a branch, and not the main river, as Mackeller had supposed. About a mile above the mines the land began to rise, and both banks were clothed with splendid forests. Arriving at the head of the delta they found that the river itself proceeded due north, while a branch similar to that which passed the gold fields struck off through the forest to the southwest. The southwest branch was the smallest of the three streams, so they did not trouble with it, but went down the main river until they reached a defile with hills to the west of them facing the continuous range to the east. “This will be our camping spot, I imagine,” said Stranleigh. “We will return to it, but first I wish to investigate the channel at the mouth of the river.” They discovered, to Mackeller’s surprise, that the stream flowed so far to the north that when at last it turned west the steamer could reach the ocean without any possibility of being seen from the gold region. Stranleigh laughed when this fact was made plain, and smote Mackeller on the shoulders. “Where’s your trap now, my boy?” he cried. “You would have saved yourself some worry if you had known that the lay of the land was like this.” “Nevertheless,” said Mackeller, “if they discover this channel, they may fill it with floating mines:”