ry narrowed to a stream
scarcely wider than the length of the boat. That it was fresh water was
beyond a doubt, for at the far end of the gorge we saw the water foaming
steeply down in a series of tiny cascades, which stretched away upward
until they reached more than halfway to the peak that formed the highest
point of the island.

As we crept slowly toward our chosen landing-place, under the impulse of
the sculling oar--the wind having by this time failed us--we began to
get ever nearer glimpses of the beauties of the island. The rocky face
of the cliff on either hand was splashed with colour from numerous small
flowering shrubs that seemed to spring from invisible clefts in the
basalt, while close down by the water's edge great clumps of maidenhair
and other ferns grew in extravagant luxuriance. But these things were
observed as it were subconsciously, every eye in the boat being fixed
intently upon the little strip of beach toward which we were heading,
while the longing to feel our feet once more on terra firma grew more
intense as the minutes slipped by. We had not the remotest idea whether
or not the island was inhabited, though we scarcely thought it possible
that such a paradise could be devoid of inhabitants; but if the beach
toward which we were heading had suddenly become black with hostile
natives, I am quite sure that, feeble as we were, we would have fought
desperately for the right to land, and either won that right or perished
in the attempt.

No natives appeared, however. There was no sign of life that we could
discern, save a few gaudily plumaged birds that flitted hither and
thither, sometimes sweeping right over the boat, as though curious to
ascertain what new thing this was that invaded their solitude; and
presently the craft that had been our home for ten days--which seemed
more like months to us--slid with a thin grating sound on to the sand,
and stopped.

Scarcely waiting to lay in my oar, I scrambled out of the cockpit,
reeled along the deck, dropped over the overhanging bow on to the hot
sand, and held up my arms to help the others ashore. The first to come
was Mrs Vansittart, who was followed by her daughter and the two
stewardesses, Julius bringing up the rear; and when at length we were
all ashore, Mrs Vansittart said, or rather whispered, for she had all
but lost her voice:

"Before we do anything else, or move another step, let us all go down on
our knees and return thanks to