id, "until we
found the island. At best it can be but conjecture on our part until
we have been able to scrutinize the coast closely. Each of us has
formed a mental picture of the Capronian seacoast from Bowen's
manuscript, and it is not likely that any two of these pictures
resemble each other, or that any of them resemble the coast as we shall
presently find it. I have in view three plans for scaling the cliffs,
and the means for carrying out each is in the hold. There is an
electric drill with plenty of waterproof cable to reach from the ship's
dynamos to the cliff-top when the Toreador is anchored at a safe
distance from shore, and there is sufficient half-inch iron rod to
build a ladder from the base to the top of the cliff. It would be a
long, arduous and dangerous work to bore the holes and insert the rungs
of the ladder from the bottom upward; yet it can be done.

"I also have a life-saving mortar with which we might be able to throw
a line over the summit of the cliffs; but this plan would necessitate
one of us climbing to the top with the chances more than even that the
line would cut at the summit, or the hooks at the upper end would slip.

"My third plan seems to me the most feasible. You all saw a number of
large, heavy boxes lowered into the hold before we sailed. I know you
did, because you asked me what they contained and commented upon the
large letter 'H' which was painted upon each box. These boxes contain
the various parts of a hydro-aeroplane. I purpose assembling this upon
the strip of beach described in Bowen's manuscript--the beach where he
found the dead body of the apelike man--provided there is sufficient
space above high water; otherwise we shall have to assemble it on deck
and lower it over the side. After it is assembled, I shall carry
tackle and ropes to the cliff-top, and then it will be comparatively
simple to hoist the search-party and its supplies in safety. Or I can
make a sufficient number of trips to land the entire party in the
valley beyond the barrier; all will depend, of course, upon what my
first reconnaissance reveals."

That afternoon we steamed slowly along the face of Caprona's towering
barrier.

"You see now," remarked Billings as we craned our necks to scan the
summit thousands of feet above us, "how futile it would have been to
waste our time in working out details of a plan to surmount those." And
he jerked his thumb toward the cliffs. "It would take wee