d myself to overpower the remaining nineteen of the crew,
who, apart from other considerations, would certainly have their
suspicions aroused as soon as Grace Hartley's presence on board should
be discovered, as it soon must be.

I shrewdly suspected that this arrangement relative to the embarkation
of the crew at the last moment prior to the sailing of the ship must be
due to Gurney, who would, of course, perceive quite as clearly as myself
how vital to our success such an arrangement must be, and I tried to get
a word with him to ascertain whether this was actually the case. But I
found it impossible to do so; and I accordingly devoted the remainder of
the day to getting my chest aboard, taking possession of my cabin, and
carefully studying the charts with the view of deciding upon the most
desirable route to be followed on the voyage to Sydney. Late in the
afternoon Gurney and Tudsbery also brought their chests aboard, but even
then I was unable to get any private word with the former, because of
the constant presence of the latter. Moreover, it appeared to me that
Gurney was rather markedly avoiding me, a circumstance that caused me a
good deal of uneasiness. But at the last moment, just as all hands were
going ashore at the close of the day's work, my co-adventurer came and
stood beside me at the gangway for an instant and, without saying a
word, or even looking at me, felt for my hand, and thrust into it what
seemed to be a small, tightly folded piece of paper, immediately
afterwards passing through the gangway and down the ship's side. I
waited until everybody else had left the deck, and then, carefully
thrusting the paper into my breeches pocket, followed.

Arrived at length at the quarters that I occupied while ashore, I drew
forth from my pocket what proved to be, as I had suspected from the feel
of it, a sheet of paper folded into a very small compass, and, opening
it, read as follows:--

"I have just learned, through the merest chance, that it has been
arranged that the crew shall go aboard to-morrow, instead of next day,
which means that we must act to-night. Please meet me, therefore, among
the big rocks on the Basin beach under the South Head as soon after
supper as you conveniently can; and, if I should not be there when you
arrive, kindly wait for me. I have chosen that spot for our rendezvous
on account of its secluded character, and because nobody cares to go
there after dark."

This was aw