that he must have known
whereabouts to find us, or he would not have come so directly towards
our hiding-place. Arthur put his mouth to my ear, and whispered--

"It will be better to show ourselves; and we must afterwards keep a
watch on the man, to prevent him from going off and giving information
to our enemies."

I, of course, agreed to this proposal; so, stepping out from behind the
tree where we had been hidden, we faced Jose, and asked him whether he
had brought any message from my father. He seemed in no way astonished
at seeing us, but replied that he was glad to find we had not left the
island, as he had been sent expressly by my father to try and meet with
us. He had been, he said, searching for us for some days; and at length
catching sight of Camo, he knew that we were not likely to be far off.
My father himself, he said, was in considerable apprehension of being
denounced to the Inquisition, as he had received it warning from Doctor
Antonio, and had thought it prudent in consequence to hide himself.

"Will he not join us?" asked Arthur eagerly. "He will be safer where we
are than anywhere else."

"He does not know where to find you, senors; but if you will show me
your place of concealment, I will try and find him, and bring him to
you."

Arthur looked at me, on hearing this, with an expression that showed he
doubted the truth of what Jose said. "It will be better not to show any
distrust," he whispered; "at the same time, it might be hazardous to
lead Jose to our retreat."

"What are we to do, then?" I asked.

"We will tell him to go and find your father, and conduct him to this
spot: if he comes, we need no longer have any doubts about Jose's
fidelity."

I thought Arthur's idea a good one, though we should have liked to
consult Uncle Paul on the subject.

Arthur asked Jose how long it would take to bring our father to the spot
where we then were. He replied, "Certainly not before noon of next
day;" and we accordingly agreed to meet him at that hour.

"But will you not take me to your hiding-place?" he asked. "I am hungry
and weary, and require rest and refreshment."

I was much disposed to do as the man requested, but I waited to hear
what Arthur would say before replying.

"We regret that we cannot take you there at present," said Arthur;
"others are concerned as well as ourselves. Do you go back and find
your master, and tell him that we are well, and shall be rejoiced to see
hi