It was, of
course, just barely possible that the enemy, having first seen me on the
summit of the Peak, might come to the conclusion that my lair was
somewhere in that direction, and hunt round about there for me. On the
other hand, I had been told that the Pacific islanders, taking them as a
whole, were by no means unintelligent, and they would naturally think,
upon finding the boat, that I would make my habitat as near her as
possible, and accordingly proceed to hunt for signs of me in her
immediate neighbourhood. Besides, they had last seen me on the cliff
top, and if they were at all expert at tracking they should be able to
pick up my spoor without much difficulty. The thing I most greatly
feared was that, suspecting me to be lurking in the neighbourhood, a few
of them had gone into ambush at no great distance, hoping that I should
ultimately show myself, while the rest were scouring the island.

Julius and I maintained our watch until nightfall; then, as soon as it
was as dark as it was likely to be that night, I made arrangements for
replenishing our stock of fresh water. Julius was to mount guard in the
mouth of the cavern with his rifle, keeping a sharp look-out along the
ledge, which was just visible enough in the starlight to permit of the
boy being able to detect the approach of an enemy; and if he saw anyone
coming he was to give me warning, and shoot if necessary to cover my
retreat. For my part, I was to take our only bucket, fill it with
water, and pass it up to Susie, who was to receive it in the mouth of
the cavern, carry it to the breaker, and empty it into the latter until
it was full.

It was not a long job, for the breaker was only of small capacity. We
accomplished it in less than ten minutes, without interruption of any
kind, winding up by taking the full bucket into the cavern, as a
supplementary supply, and then drawing up the ladder after us.

The cavern was now provisioned and watered for at least four days. We
could endure for that length of time without much difficulty or
hardship, after which, I ventured to hope, our anxiety respecting the
savages would be at an end. I relieved Julius as guard, and sent him to
the inner cavern to get some food and a few hours' sleep prior to
relieving me in turn.

I fondly believed that the existence of our cavern was unknown, and that
we had been fortunate enough to replenish our stock of water unobserved;
but I afterward had reason to suspect