tern sky. Like a
ghostly ship, the vessel they had seen that morning glided across the
red rippling path of light, the tapering masts dark against the evening
glow, while above it white gulls were winging in circles. So beautiful
was the scene that she paused, and, as she gazed, she saw a tiny boat
leave the ship's side and draw towards the shore. For the moment Alan
was forgotten. Watching the little dinghy, her mind became full of the
idea suggested by her brother. Was Thomas really going to carry his
stolen goods beyond seas?

(_Continued on page 146._)

[Illustration: "Alan seized the box, and ran."]

[Illustration: "She let the dog lead her into the blackness."]

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 143._)

With the thought that Thomas might put to sea, a multitude of questions
came to Marjorie's mind. How had he managed to let the ship's crew know?
Was its presence there due to Thomas at all? Who was the man with him?
Was he a man who could have a ship when he wanted it, or was he a member
of the crew? Alan said that he talked English perfectly, but with a
slightly foreign accent. Perhaps the man was a Frenchman. The coastguard
had considered the ship was French, with a rig altered since she was
built. That would account for its coming to the help of Thomas, and no
doubt the dinghy was to fetch the two men. She wondered if it was her
duty to tell the coastguard all that she and Alan suspected. 'Perhaps he
would only laugh at me,' she thought.

If the coastguard had been in sight she might yet have done so, but
there appeared to be no one on the cliffs except herself. The pathway
along the edge was quite deserted, and it was a mile or more to the
signal station. Moreover, she had no hat; it had been taken off for
coolness and left in the ditch, forgotten in her fright at the closing
door.

The temptation to watch the little boat was too great to be resisted. If
Thomas and his friend should return in it to the ship, what a grand
piece of news to tell Alan! There was just a chance he might see it for
himself, and she would only get a pinch for stale news; but she hoped
otherwise.

Meantime the dinghy drew nearer, and to her practised eye it became
evident that the men did not know the coast, for they rowed first one
way and then another without finding the entrance to the Bay; they
seemed afraid of submerged rocks, which might be quite covered even at
the half-tide. They crept i