e of
the hut. He immediately afterwards came round to the window.

"All right, sir," he said; "I saw the glimmer of the water when I was on
the top of the hut, and I shall easily find my way to it. The pirates
are carousing down by the huts on the shore, for I heard their voices
singing and shouting, so I shall have a good chance of not being found
out."

Saying this Burridge glided away through the cocoanut grove by which the
village was surrounded.

His companions waited anxiously for his return.

"If he is taken, I have a fancy they would not hesitate to send a
pistol-bullet through his head," said Hawke. "I wish that I could have
gone with him, Mr Deane."

"You would only have shared his fate, and so have gained nothing, and
done him no good," answered Jack. "Let us wait patiently: he has his
wits about him, and he will take good care not to be caught."

Two or three hours passed by and still Burridge did not make his
appearance. His companions grew more and more anxious, both on his
account and on their own. If he was taken their prospect of escape
would be much lessened. In Jack's mind also a new difficulty had
arisen. Even supposing that the opportunity should occur of escaping,
he could not bring himself to leave the island without ascertaining
whether Dame Pearson and Elizabeth were residing on it. Before
therefore he could go he must settle this point, one almost as difficult
as that of escaping.

At length a voice was heard under the window.

"All right," said Burridge, in a whisper; "I'll tell you all about it as
soon as I'm safe inside again."

He soon made his way up to the top of the hut, and getting through the
hole replaced the thatch and bamboo rafters before he jumped down to the
ground.

"I was right," he said, "and made my way down to the harbour. It is
farther off though than I supposed; and I heard people moving about, so
I had to be cautious; and more than all, they have two or three of those
Spanish bloodhounds with them, and it's a wonder the beasts did not find
me out, and if they had come across my track they would have done so to
a certainty. However I got down to the shore safe. I counted six or
seven vessels in the harbour, besides two or three small ones, and
several boats hauled up on the beach. So far as a craft is concerned,
we have only to pick and choose. Then comes the difficulty of getting
on board and finding our way out of the harbour. If we had been o