o Jack and then pointed toward an elevation
toward the center of the island.

The clouds hung low and the rain was still falling in torrents, but
under the gray sky and through the downpour of the rain two columns of
smoke lifted an eloquent voice.

"That's a Boy Scout call!" exclaimed Jack.

"Two columns of smoke," Frank said, "mean 'Help'! Jimmie couldn't have
kindled two fires since he has been gone, could he?"

"Of course not," Jack replied. "That's Pat Mack, the red-headed rascal!"

"I bet he wishes he was back on Chatham Square!" observed Frank.

The boys waited ten minutes, but Jimmie did not make his appearance.

"He's in trouble!" cried Frank. "We better go and see what kind of a fix
he's gotten into."

"It may be," Ned said, after a short pause, "that he has seen the call
for help, and is making his way in that direction."

"That is just like him!" Jack burst out.

"Are we going in there after him?" Frank asked.

"We are likely to lose him in the thicket if we go," Ned cautioned, "and
it seems to me that we ought to wait a short time. He is wise enough not
to go butting into a camp."

"What sort of a place is it in there?" asked Jack.

"It is one of the nameless islands of the Babuyan group," Ned answered.
"Like most of the others, it is of volcanic formation. There is a
central elevation, and a stream of good size starts up there somewhere
and runs into a bay farther north. I was thinking of speeding up and
trying to get into the interior by way of the river."

"With the engine barking like a terrier in a rat pit!" said Frank.

"For once," said Ned, with a smile, "you have said a good thing! We've
got to lie here and wait until dark. Then we can advance through the
jungle and look for their campfire."

"Perhaps they won't build a fire."

This from Frank, who was stuffing his pockets with cartridges.

"Of course they will!" Jack put in. "They will have to keep the wildcats
away."

"Wildcats!" laughed Frank. "There isn't a wildcat within a thousand
miles of this island."

"Don't you ever think it," Jack insisted. "There are plenty of wildcats
in the Philippines, and snakes, and lizards. In fact, the islands are
not unlike the Isthmus of Panama in this regard. And monkeys! Well,
we've heard enough chattering already to put us wise to them."

As the boy spoke a great chattering broke out in a thicket only a few
rods away from the beach. The monkeys seemed frightened, and moving
toward th