ies of our beloved queen--God bless her--and who will perhaps
compass the death of many an Englishman before they come to their own,
but what else can I do, Roger? Have you any suggestion to offer?"

"No, sir," replied the boy; "I think, with you, that the only thing to
do is to release them and let them make their way to some settlement of
theirs on the island."

"Well then, that settles it," said Cavendish. "While you were ashore I
conferred with others of my officers, and all offer the same advice; so,
when we are ready for sea once more, ashore they shall go. And now it
is quite time that I went on deck and saw about getting the vessels
hauled ashore; that is if the tide yet serves, which it should do by
this time. Let us go."

The captain rose, and was about to leave the cabin, when Roger said he
had something to tell him.

"What is it then, lad? tell me quickly, as I want to get on deck," said
the captain.

Roger then recounted what Martin and he had observed, adding that these
occurrences seemed to him to signify the presence of a body of men
hiding in the brushwood.

"It is possible, Roger," agreed Cavendish, "seeing that you and Harry
were attacked but yesterday. But I thought that we gave the savages so
sharp a lesson then that they would not wish to renew our acquaintance.
Are you sure that it was not wind moving the trees, and that it was not
the sun shining on the palm-leaves that made Martin think of the glitter
of steel?"

"I am sure there was no wind, sir," replied Roger, "for I looked very
closely; and it was no leaf that produced the glitter that Martin saw;
he knows the glint of steel too well to be mistaken."

"Well, many thanks for the information at any rate!" said the skipper.
"I will order a doubly sharp lookout to be kept. We must avoid a
surprise at all hazards, for we might lose a great number of men
thereby."

He then turned and went on deck, followed closely by Roger.

When they arrived on deck, Cavendish considered, upon inspection, that
the tide would serve, as it was now rising rapidly; he therefore
immediately gave orders that the winches and capstans should be manned,
and the ships hove in towards the beach until their keels touched
bottom.

This was done, and soon the two vessels had been hauled in until they
grounded gently.

Then the boats were again got over the side, together with a number of
rafts which had been constructed for the purpose, and the guns were