e water gurgling."

"That's what I've been thinking, sir," said Rogers. "Let's try again."

Weak and weary as he was, Syd's heart sank, but their next attempt was
successful, the faint sound of water trickling far below acting as their
guide, and they found the place, descended carefully, not seeing their
danger, to where the water gurgled musically from the rock into a little
pool some five feet long.

Here both drank long and deeply of the delicious draught, after filling
their buckets, finding it no easy task to climb back with them to where
they stood in the bright, clear star-shine, and begin their journey back
down to the bottom of the rope-ladder, where Rogers set down his pail,
climbed up, lowered down a rope, and hauled both the buckets up without
spilling a drop. Then while he attended to the men with one, Syd
hurried up to the little hospital with the other, to find his patients
sufficiently recovered to drink with avidity as much water as he would
let them have.

There was no sleep that night, but many a prayer of thankfulness was
sent up from the darkness of that black gap toward where, in all their
tropic splendour, the great stars twinkled brightly.

"And we shall see the light of another day," said Syd, aloud, "and--
Roylance--Roy, are you awake?"

"Yes. I was listening to what you said."

"We've forgotten poor Terry."

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

It was a false alarm, for Terry had been tended by Rogers, and seemed
one of the strongest of the party that sat eating their morning meal a
few hours later.

But an enemy would have found an easy capture of the place that day had
he come; though, as there really was no illness, the recuperation was
rapid enough, and all congratulated themselves on the find.

"It warn't nice while it lasted, but you see it was an eggsperens like,
sir," said Strake; "only what puzzles me is, why you and Pan-y-mar
didn't think of the water afore."

"I was thinking about it all night, Strake," said Syd, "and it was as
great a puzzle to me. I heard the gurgling of water that day when Mr
Dallas was hurt, and thought it must be the sea coming in through some
crack, and I never thought of it again till I felt that I was dying.
Then it came like a flash."

"Dying! Lor' now, we warn't dying," said the boatswain cheerily. "But
thirsty I will say though, as I never was so thirsty afore. I've been
hungry, and had to live for a week on one biscuit and the wriggling
thin