et oblivion of dreamless sleep.

The following morning found me awake with the rising of the sun. I felt
amazingly refreshed by my night's sleep, and quite strong, comparatively
speaking. I saw that Julius had awakened, and I invited him to go with
me and have a swimming lesson, for the boy could not swim a stroke, and
I had decided it was high time he should learn. So we started off,
noting as we went that the women folk seemed to be still asleep under
their own particular tree.

We walked to the cliff edge and looked down upon the beach; the boat was
still there, exactly as we had left her.

Stripping to the buff, we deposited our clothes on the boat's deck and
entered the water, which was of just the right temperature to be
refreshing; and while I swam delightedly hither and thither, Master
Julius, who was extremely fastidious in the matter of personal
cleanliness, carefully removed all traces of the grime that had
unavoidably accumulated during the voyage from the reef. Then, my swim
ended, I did the same, after which I gave my companion his first
swimming lesson, the boy showing such aptitude, and acquitting himself
so well, that when we finally left the water he was actually able to
swim a stroke or two unaided. Before dressing we explored the upper end
of the harbour, where the stream discharged into it, and were fortunate
enough to find a spot at which, in about three to four feet of water,
the women could bathe with enjoyment and absolute safety.

Having dressed, I entered the boat and procured the carpenter's axe,
after which we ascended to the top of the cliff. Near there we met Mrs
Vansittart and her daughter, both of whom declared themselves greatly
the better for a sound and refreshing night's rest. They were about to
prospect for a spot where they might enjoy the luxury that Julius and I
had just been indulging in; so, leaving the boy to direct them to the
place which we had discovered, and afterwards to gather bananas for our
breakfast, I shouldered the axe and set off northward, intent upon an
exploration of the aperture in the cliff, which I believed might prove
to be the mouth of a cave.

As I went I looked keenly about me for a sapling or small tree that
might serve as a ladder, and before long I came upon exactly the kind of
thing I wanted. It was a young tree, somewhat resembling a yew, about
twenty feet high, with a number of branches springing from its trunk
close together and radiat