have happened!"

"That is quite likely; for his worst enemy will allow that the man is
a good guide; but then, Sergeant, if the truth must be spoken, you
have managed this expedition in a loose way altogether. You should have
hove-to off your haven, and sent in a boat to reconnoitre, as I told
you before. That is a matter to be repented of, and I tell it to you,
because truth, in such a case, ought to be spoken."

"My errors are dearly paid for, brother; and poor Mabel, I fear, will
be the sufferer. I think, however, that the calamity would not have
happened had there not been treason. I fear me, brother, that Jasper
Eau-douce has played us false."

"That is just my notion; for this fresh-water life must sooner or later
undermine any man's morals. Lieutenant Muir and myself talked this
matter over while we lay in a bit of a hole out here, on this island;
and we both came to the conclusion that nothing short of Jasper's
treachery could have brought us all into this infernal scrape. Well,
Sergeant, you had better compose your mind, and think of other matters;
for, when a vessel is about to enter a strange port, it is more prudent
to think of the anchorage inside than to be under-running all the events
that have turned up during the v'y'ge. There's the log-book expressly to
note all these matters in; and what stands there must form the column of
figures that's to be posted up for or against us. How now, Pathfinder!
is there anything in the wind, that you come down the ladder like an
Indian in the wake of a scalp?"

The guide raised a finger for silence and then beckoned to Cap to ascend
the first ladder, and to allow Mabel to take his place at the side of
the Sergeant.

"We must be prudent, and we must be bold too," said he in a low voice.
"The riptyles are in earnest in their intention to fire the block; for
they know there is now nothing to be gained by letting it stand. I hear
the voice of that vagabond Arrowhead among them, and he is urging
them to set about their devilry this very night. We must be stirring,
Saltwater, and doing too. Luckily there are four or five barrels
of water in the block, and these are something towards a siege. My
reckoning is wrong, too, or we shall yet reap some advantage from that
honest fellow's, the Sarpent, being at liberty."

Cap did not wait for a second invitation; but, stealing away, he was
soon in the upper room with Pathfinder, while Mabel took his post at the
side of her fat