calm.

"'Nother aaf an hour, Jasper," grunted Eli.

"Yes," I cried, and I grasped my crowbar.

But we had to wait for more than half an hour, for with the rising of
the moon came also a black cloud which obscured its light until it had
risen some distance in the heavens. By and by, however, the moon shot
above the cloud, and that which before had been obscured by darkness
became plain. There was the great rugged rock which bore a resemblance
to the rude scratching on the paper. By the side of the rock ran a deep
gulf filled with black water. Near by, perhaps twenty feet away, was
another and larger mass of cliff. I looked at the water which lay
between the two, and saw that it whirled and eddied, as though there
were some terrible forces underneath which moved it at will.

I picked up a bit of stick and threw it into the middle of the gulf,
which ran perhaps forty feet into the island. I saw the water take it
and carry it a little way seaward, and then it came back again. After
that it started whirling around, and in a minute or so later it seemed
to be drawn downward, for it disappeared from our sight.

"Ef a man was to git in there 'ee'd never git out again," grunted Eli.

"No, never," was my reply, and I shuddered as I spoke.

"Well, then, be careful, Jasper Pennington."

Seizing the pick and crowbar, I crept along the rock until I had reached
the extreme point.

I remembered the words written on the piece of paper: "_Hell's Mouth, S.
W._" Yes, that was the gulf into which I had thrown the stick.

"_Billy's Head N. W._" I looked to the right of me and saw a rock shaped
something like a man's head.

The night became lighter. The moon was rising higher and higher in the
heavens and sailing in a cloudless sky.

I examined the Devil's Point carefully, but I could see no sign of place
into which an iron box could be placed.

"Can 'ee find et?" I heard Eli say, in a low, rasping voice.

"No; there's nothing here. From here it is perpendicular to the sea, a
dozen feet down."

Eli swore a terrible oath.

"For God's sake, don't," I cried; "this place is true to its name.
That's Hell's Mouth, and this is the Devil's Point right enough."

He crept by me, grunting savagely, and began to feel around the edge of
the rock.

"Be careful, Eli," I said, "if you slip you are lost."

"I sha'ant slip," he cried savagely, "I sha'ant!"

Then I saw him lift a stone several pounds weight and throw it into the
sea. Th