o thinking I owed the chap something for the fun I'd had
out of him, I said I'd get you to fix it up for him. You've been
bottle-washer to a photographer for a bit, haven't you?"

"Something in that line, but I've no tackle here."

"Oh, that's all right. Here's his dark-room lamp, and the shutters to
this room are solid. They'll keep out the moonlight."

We swung-to the coverings over the windows, and put a lighted candle
behind the cherry-glass shade, and then I took the little camera out of
its leather case. It was a cheap quarter-plate, and the jar had started
up two of the angles.

"The rest of the illustrations for that book will have to wait till
this is coopered up," said I.

"Are the plate-things inside spoiled?" Haigh asked.

"No, they're all right so far as exposure to light goes. However, I'll
look. Phew! what a mess! Every blessed one smashed except the last
couple. Your man will have to go over his ground again to replace
these."

"What's that contrivance?" asked Haigh, who was peering over my
shoulder.

"A spare dark-slide to use instead of the big plate-holder. Empty.
Look, I'll put the two sound plates in there, and you can tell the
Juggins that he can put those in his pocket and take the camera to a
photographer man to get mended. Not that I expect that any one can do
it here. But he can try."

"All right, thanks. It'll be rather a blow to him, but I must break it
gently. Well, ta-ta, good-night. I think you'll own I've picked up most
amusement for this evening?"

CHAPTER IX.

TALAITI DE TALT.

I woke with daylight, and roused Haigh. "We should get away at once," I
said to him. "We've dawdled woefully. If we'd possessed a grain of
sense between us we should have started the moment we stepped ashore.
Weems may be cooped up still, but that's only guess-work on our parts.
It's quite possible he cleared himself directly after you left, and
went to the Talayot straight away."

Haigh blinked at me sleepily. "You're in the deuce of a flurry, old
man. Been having evil dreams? That's the rancid oil they cook with
here. It always has that effect at first. But you'll get used to it
soon and like it, and think ordinary oil insipid."

"Oh, confound you, dry up. Look here, we must start at once."

"How?"

"Tramp it. Funds won't run to a vehicle."

"My dear chappie, you don't know the extent of my feebleness. I
couldn't walk two miles to save my life. Nature may have intended me
for a p