llis by the hand, set off as quickly as I could go up the path,
Beckenham assisting her on the other side.

If I live to be a hundred I shall never forget that rush up the hill. In
and out of trees and bushes, scratching ourselves and tearing our
clothes, we dashed; conscious only of the necessity for speed. Before we
were half-way down the other side Phyllis's strength was quite
exhausted, so I took her in my arms and carried her the remainder of the
distance. At last we reached the boat and jumped on board. The rest of
the party were already there, and the word being given we prepared to
row out to the yacht. But before we could push off a painful surprise
was in store for us. The Marquis, who had been counting the party,
cried: "_Where is Mr. Wetherell?_"

We looked round upon each other, and surely enough the old gentleman was
missing. Discovering this, Phyllis nearly gave way, and implored us to
go back at once to find him. But having rescued her with so much
difficulty I did not wish to run any risk of letting her fall into her
enemies' hands again; so selecting four volunteers from the party, I
bade the rest pull the boat out to the yacht and give Miss Wetherell
into the captain's charge, while the others accompanied me ashore again
in search of her father. Having done this the boat was to return and
wait for us.

Quickly we splashed our way back to the beach, and then, plunging into
the undergrowth, began our search for the missing man. As we did not
know where to search, it was like looking for a needle in a bundle of
hay, but presently one of the hands remembered having seen him
descending the hill, so we devoted our attentions to that side. For
nearly two hours we toiled up and down, but without success. Not a sign
of the old gentleman was to be seen. Could he have mistaken his way and
be even now searching for us on another beach? To make sure of this we
set off and thoroughly searched the two bays in the direction he would
most likely have taken. But still without success. Perhaps he had been
captured and carried back to the huts? In that case we had better
proceed thither and try to rescue him. This, however, was a much more
serious undertaking, and you may imagine it was with considerable care
that we approached the plateau again.

When we reached it the huts were as quiet as when I had first made their
acquaintance. Not a sound came up to the top of the little precipice
save the rustling of the wind