," grinned Bob, pulling out his heavy pocket-knife.

He went to work, and remained at work for five minutes. At the end of
that time he gazed disgustedly at his hacked knife blade and gave up in
despair. Mart suggested warming the oysters over a fire.

"Good idea, Mart!" cried Bob, springing up. "We'll eat a couple, then
take a mess back to dad, eh?"

They soon had a small fire of dry bush alight, and under the influence
of its heat they got two or three of the oysters open. Each of the boys
swallowed one--then they looked at each other blankly.

"Didn't taste right to me," declared Mart.

"Me neither. I never ate any like that in 'Frisco, by juniper!"

They unanimously decided that they would not eat any more, and before
they had stamped out their fire Bob found that he wanted very much to
inspect a scarlet-leaved tree a short distance back in the bush. Mart
saw another tree that he wanted to look at, and after fifteen minutes
had passed, two very pale and disgusted boys crawled out to the warm
beach again and lay there recuperating.

"By golly, I don't want any more of those oysters," said Mart, gaining
his feet after a little. Picking up the offending molluscs, he hurled
them out again into the sea, and Bob grinned faintly.

"No," he agreed, "I guess Ah Sing's cooking'll do me for quite a spell.
By juniper, that oyster must have gone down wrong!"

"So did mine," replied Mart, "but it come up again--right. I move we hit
for the boat. I've had enough o' this, by golly! It's as Borden said;
things ain't what they seem, not by a long shot!"

With that, they hit across the island for the lagoon side once more.
They passed several trees which bore most attractive-looking fruits, and
berry-laden bushes, but beyond pausing once or twice to consume a few
feet of his reel at opportune points, Mart paid no attention. He and Bob
had learned a lesson and learned it well.

By the time they emerged on the inner shore of the island, however, they
were feeling perfectly recovered once more. Here the shore was flat and
level, and as they looked about for the boat, it appeared a few hundred
yards to their left. Dailey was lying asleep in its shadow, and out in
the lagoon itself the _Seamew_ was swinging lazily at her cable. There
was no sign of any prau bringing back Jerry Smith, and the other three
men who had landed were not in sight.

"Where are the men gone?" asked Bob, as Dailey sat up at their approach.
The leathery-