ere stationed all over the
island. Knowing that a general alarm had been given, he began a rapid
descent of the cliffs, well aware of the fatal consequences if the
Chileans captured him. Every moment he expected a company of soldiers
to pounce upon him, or that their torpedo boats would capture him at the
foot of the cliff. Shot after shot followed him as he made for the
place at which he had concealed his dress, with all the speed with which
he was possessed. Being less cautious in the descent than he had been
in going up, he loosened great masses of guano and rock that rolled down
ahead of him. When he reached the breakers again, an avalanche of
guano had covered his dress. He hurriedly searched up and down the beach
until he discovered one foot of the rubber pantaloons sticking out
from under the guano. He pulled it out and was soon paddling across the
gut again. As he ran under the cliff where the sloop had been
anchored, he could not see her; but as he rose on the waves he
discovered her nearly out of sight, standing away for the mainland,
with all canvas spread. The crew had heard the firing, had weighed
anchor and sailed for the protection of their own guns, under the
impression that their Captain had been killed; in fact, such was the
report they made on their arrival at Lima.

Appreciating the fact that he would surely be discovered by the enemy if
he attempted to paddle to the mainland in the dress; if not during the
night, certainly in the morning, for he could not hope to reach safely
before daylight revealed him. What should he do? He now knew that San
Lorenzo was heavily guarded and there was no hope of shelter on Frouton.
It were better to challenge the mercy of the monsters of the deep than
that of his human foes, so he quickly made up his mind to return and
conceal himself under the crags of San Lorenzo in one of the caverns
which he had passed. He paddled back through the heavily rolling waves
and got under the cliffs of the island, looking every moment to be run
down by a torpedo boat; but fortunately his pursuers missed him and he
felt a wave of hot air, impregnated with that saline smell which
betokened the entrance to a cave. Then he could see a blacker spot than
the darkness that surrounded him, which he knew was the entrance. He
unhesitatingly struck for it, the mountain seeming to close over and
swallow him as he entered the mysterious chamber of the sea. Cautiously