ed all the
provisions from me."

"He is here on the island, and now has charge of all the business
matters connected with our venture."

"Well, that is remarkable, indeed; but I must proceed. Four months after
the _Juan Ferde_ sailed, I came into contact with a peculiar character,
who had been all over the southern part of the universe, and he finally
interested me sufficiently to look over some peculiar documents which he
had, bearing on the subject of the lost treasures, and from the
information which he gave, it occurred to me that the location could not
be far from the island where I was cast ashore.

"With a good business, and entirely free from all family entanglements,
I made up my mind that I would accompany him, and finance the
undertaking. What induced me more than anything else, was the fact that
the stories he told corresponded so nearly with the information which
Blakely gave me, although the latter did not go into many details, that
I looked on the venture in the nature of a lark. Besides I wanted to
meet my old friends on the island, and possibly induce them to gather
the products of the island for me.

"We sailed about five months after the _Juan Ferde_ left, and had a
quick run to the island where it was supposed I had been left years
before. It seems that at the time I landed there the tribe was at war,
and we had a terrible time to get away from the people, who, of course,
did not remember me, even though the tribe was the same, but of this I
had no absolute knowledge at the time.

"Two months after reaching the island, we sailed to the south, in order
to explore the second island, noted on the chart, and it was then that
the returning monsoon, which usually blows in the opposite direction
from the one of six months before, wrecked the vessel, and the next day
one of my companions and myself, who were so far as I then knew, the
only survivors, reached the southern shore of an island, where we saw
high mountains, so unlike those in the island where I was shipwrecked
years before."

"While I think of it," remarked John, "how did you know about the second
island, to which you refer?"

"I learned this from Walter."

"Then did you know anything about the skull on the headland, and the
note which Walter left?"

"I knew about the skull, but never heard of the note to which you refer.
The discovery of the skull was an accident, and I attached no importance
to it at the time. From the southern port