ilt that himself,--but we
must remove from it every trace of our own presence on the islet. Then,
poor fellow, we must unearth his body and lay it in the hut, covering
him up. When they come ashore in the morning, as of course they will,
they will see that he is recently dead, and will not dream that he has
been once buried already, if we are careful to remove all traces. It
will naturally be thought that he died here alone and untended. We must
be very careful to efface every sign of our presence here, and leave
only such things as Evans had when we arrived, or may be reasonably
supposed to have collected from the beach. Then, as to hiding
ourselves--At the extreme seaward end of the rocks, where you to-day
caught your fish, there is a hollow big enough to conceal a dozen men; I
particularly noticed it when I was on the spot. We must take some food
and water, and hide there until the pirates leave. They will not
attempt to land at that place, for the reason that a boat could not be
safely put alongside the rocks; and if we carefully hide everything
belonging to ourselves they will not suspect that anyone else is here,
and will not search. Now we must be quick, for our lives depend upon
it. If we are found we shall certainly die horribly. Quick now, men!
we must do everything that has to be done, and be safely hidden before
daybreak, or we shall be seen."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

NARROW ESCAPES OF THE CASTAWAYS--THE SQUADRON HEAVES IN SIGHT AGAIN.

The seamen needed no second bidding. From Roger's description it could
be none other than the pirate vessel, and both knew what their fate
would be if they were so unfortunate as to be discovered by the pirates.
Rapidly throwing on their clothes, they came out of the hut, and an
examination of the vessel over the top of the bank convinced them that
Roger's statement was only too true.

"How about the flag though, sir?" said Bevan. "If they have seen that--
and it is almost certain that they have--they will think there are
others here, and will search. It will be no use hiding then; for if
they believe anybody else to be here, they will search till they find
us."

"I think we need not greatly trouble about the flag," responded Roger.
"They will imagine that poor Evans set up the staff and flag before he
died, in the hope of attracting attention; they will hardly trouble to
examine it closely enough to discover that it is made of two red shirts.
Besides, for aug