ense
at all. Storms noticed that the place was such as to command a view of
that where he and the captain had held their conversation, and where
their precious possessions were buried.

"I wonder whether that was done on purpose?" he thought. "It may be he
meant nothing, but I fear he took Inez along merely to hide the fact
that he was playing the spy upon us."

It was not pleasant to believe this, and yet the suspicion was rooted
pretty firmly in the mind of the mate, who, perhaps, was becoming
over-suspicious.

"Ah, how are you?" asked Sanders, with a laugh, changing his lounging
to the sitting position. "I conducted Miss Inez over the proa, so as
to make her acquainted with the craft, as you may say, and since that
didn't take long, we thought we would try a little stroll down here,
where we could have a talk without those natives staring at us. How is
your friend?" asked the young man, suddenly lowering his voice to
such a sympathetic key that Storms felt guilty for the moment for ever
having suspected him capable of wrong.

"I'm a little uneasy about him," was the reply, as both glanced at the
captain, who sat down beside Inez and began talking to her, "for he
seems to have broken up all at once. He was such a strong man, just in
the prime of vigorous manhood, that it would hardly be supposed he
would give away so suddenly."

"I think he will soon recover, for the change will be so radical, and
the awakened hope so strong, that he will be sure to rally in the
course of a few days."

"I hope so," was the response, "but he must be watched very
carefully."

CHAPTER XXIX

FAREWELL TO THE ISLAND

The weather remained enchanting. The tropical heat was tempered by the
ocean breeze, which stole among the palms, and across the island, and
where the crew, and those who had lived there so long, lounged in the
shadow, or sauntered in the sunshine, when the orb sank low in the
western sky.

It was curious that now, after the coming of the proa, when no other
help was needed, the signal at the masthead, as it may be called,
seemed to have acquired an unusual potency; for, on two separate
occasions during the afternoon, the island was approached by vessels,
who were given to understand that the parties on shore were provided
for. Mate Storms, now the captain, very much doubted whether he did a
wise thing in declining this proffered assistance, but the main reason
for doing so was the fact that the pearls we