t on
the island.

No later than that morning a steamer--a small Dutch freighter--had come
to a stop off the harbour. But it turned tail and fled within an hour.
No one came ashore; the malevolent tug went out and turned back the
landing party which was ready to leave the ship's side. The watchers in
the chateau knew what it was that the tug's captain shouted through his
trumpet at a safe distance from the steamer. Through their glasses they
saw the boat's crew scramble back to the deck of the freighter; the
action told the story plainer than words.

The black and yellow flags at the end of the company's pier lent colour
to a grewsome story!

The hopeless look deepened in the eyes of the watchers. They saw the
steamer move out to sea and then scuttle away as if pursued by demons.

Hollingsworth Chase alone maintained a stubborn air of confidence and
unconcern. He may not have felt as he looked, but something in his
manner, assumed or real, kept the fires of hope alight in the breasts of
all the others.

"Don't be downhearted, Bowles," he said to the moping British agent.
"You'll soon be managing the bank again and patronising the American bar
with the same old regularity."

"My word, Mr. Chase," groaned Bowles, "how can you say a thing like
that? I daresay they've blown the bank to Jericho by this time. Besides,
there won't be an American bar. And, moreover, I don't intend to stay a
minute longer than I have to on the beastly island. This taste of the
old high life has spoiled me for everything else. I'm going back to
London and sit on the banks of the Serpentine until it goes dry. Stay
here? I should rather say not."

There had been several vicious assaults upon the gates by the infuriated
islanders during the day following the rescue of the heirs. Their rage
and disappointment knew no bounds. For hours they acted like madmen;
only the most determined resistance drove them back from the gates. Some
powerful influence suddenly exerted itself to restore them to a state of
calmness. They abruptly gave up the fruitless, insensate attacks upon
the walls and withdrew to the town, apparently defeated. The cause was
obvious: Rasula had convinced them that Death already was lifting his
hand to blot out the lives of those who opposed them.

Bobby Browne was accomplishing wonders in the laboratory. He seldom was
seen outside the distilling room; his assiduity was marked, if not
commented upon. Hour after hour he stood wa