ne."

We were well satisfied to know that the pirates were on the island and
that we had found them before they were aware of our escape from the
_Kut Sang_. Now we had a good opportunity to stalk them and give them a
surprise.

We scrambled down from the burning rocks, and filled our pockets with
extra ammunition and biscuits, and each took a small bottle of water. Our
clothes were well dried, and, altogether, we found ourselves ready for
battle.

"If we can crawl up on 'em while they are all together and turn loose
with our pistols from cover, we've got 'em," said Riggs. "The three of us
ought to lay them out before they know what's up."

"We ought to even the numbers before our pistols are empty," I said. "Two
of them ought to drop at the first volley."

"It's no quarter, either, Mr. Trenholm, unless we have one of 'em, so he
can't do any damage, and then we might give him a chance to live so he
can hang. But they'll have no mercy on us if they get the upper hand."

"I'd like to take Thirkle back to Manila alive just to get at his
history."

"I'd like to get Thirkle myself, Mr. Trenholm; but it's Thirkle we'll
have to get first of all, if we can. He's more dangerous than all the
others, and, as you're the best shot, keep plugging at him until you
get him. But I'm afraid it ain't going to be so easy as we figure out.

"One thing is in our favour: they don't know we got out of the
_Kut Sang_, and it's likely they've been so busy burying the gold they
don't know the steamer is above water; but if they get a sight of her
before we drop on 'em, then we'll have a pretty pickle on our hands."

The backbone of the point ran back into the jungle and we found it a hot
and hard climb through the tangled vines and thick shrubbery. After we
had reached the other side we crawled out on the beach and made a careful
reconnaissance to the north.

We progressed slowly along the rim of sand, where the brush was sparse,
allowing us to keep a good lookout ahead. We went along a few yards at a
time, stepping out occasionally to reconnoitre the sand-reaches ahead. We
found that the northern end of the island was higher than we supposed at
first, a labyrinth of ravines sloping down to the sea.

"We ought to pick up the trail before long," said the captain. "We'll
probably find the boats in some of these gullies where the water comes
close up; but they couldn't very well cover their tracks if they pulled
the boats out, and they