ll
just come in the rear in nick o' time."

We sat composedly down to such breakfast as we had, which led to an
examination as to what had been brought up. We had plenty of water,
bread, yams, and potatoes. No little girl had forgotten her parrot, or
the boys their monkeys; in fact Felix declared his had been very useful,
as he made him carry two great potatoes. "But," said Lilly, "you had to
carry him, so it made no great difference."

"Moreover," says Felix, "I brought my two hens, because they lay eggs,
and Tommy is so fond of eggs."

_Lilly._--"I do think you love Smart more than any of us, more than your
Mother."

_Felix._--"Oh! any body may have the other egg, but I must keep one for
my Tommy. He has never been quite well since he was with those brutes.
And I am his doctor he says, so I order him eggs. And if I bid him do
it, I know he would eat twenty, one after another."

_Mother._--"How odd it seems to Schillie, our laughing at all this
nonsense of the children, when we certainly are in a very uncomfortable
position. We seem to think we are in no danger, now we have got the
captain and Smart to help us, and I doubt if we were ever in a worse
predicament than now."

_Schillie._--"Predicament or not, it's extremely nasty not being allowed
any water to wash with, and I shall owe Hargrave a grudge all my life.
Here we have been accustomed to bathe two or three times a-day, now
stewed to death we are only allowed sufficient water to send bread down
our throats, that would otherwise stick there."

_Mother._--"I wish that may be our greatest inconvenience; it's all very
well for Smart to say that we are in no danger, but if these people keep
staring at us and watching us all day as they did yesterday what are we
to do? They'll stare us out, let alone the chance of our being broiled
to death. I feel quite sure Madame will have a brain fever if we don't
take care."

_Schillie._--"Well don't fuss. We can last out a week of this work,
perhaps, and then we shall at all events be less fat for the fishes. I
intend to try the depths of those caverns before I put myself in the
power of that pirate captain."

I shuddered as she pointed down to the blue waters, through whose depths
we could see endless caverns of fantastically shaped coral.

"Oh! Ma'am, Ma'am," cried Jenny, "they are coming up." We ran for our
weapons, concealing them as well as we could, and then stood on the
defensive, Schillie on one side of the