ward for half an hour, thinking every moment that he
would come upon some trace of Ned, but Ned, as the reader knows, was at
that time waiting in the cabin of the _Manhattan_ for the return of his
friend. Unconsciously he wandered off to the right, or north, and
presently came to an elevation from which he could overlook the
rain-splashed waters of the China Sea.

By the time he reached this position Ned was also in the forest, hoping
to meet Jimmie as well as to learn the meaning of the signals from the
unknown launch and the firing on the island. Ned, however, for a long
time kept to the left, and when at last he came to an elevation he was
at least a mile away from that to which Jimmie had ascended.

From the hill--it could not be termed a mountain, though it was of
volcanic formation--Jimmie looked into a glade from which the smoke of a
fire ascended. He would have observed the two columns of smoke which had
been seen from the motor boat had he reached the position earlier, or if
he had not been surrounded by the thicket when the Boy Scout signal rose
to the sky.

He could see people moving about the fire, which was partially protected
from the storm by a heavy canvas on the windward side. A crude shelter
composed of great leaves and canvas was also seen, and in this he
thought he saw several reclining figures. By this time the boy had given
up all hope of coming upon Ned, and also of finding his way back to the
_Manhattan_ without a careful study of the location.

From the place where he stood he could look over a large portion of the
island. He could see a river running to the east, and wondered if the
bay in which the motor boat was lay not near the mouth of the stream.
Still, there were many indentations in the shores of the little isle; he
could not discover the _Manhattan_ in any of them.

He studied over the situation for a time and then arrived at the
conclusion that he could best find his way back to the boat by following
the line of the coast. That, however, necessitated a long journey and,
perhaps, the swimming of streams which would doubtless take him far into
the night, and a Philippine jungle is no place to travel in the
darkness. Besides being decidedly uncomfortable, such a trip would be
dangerous. Even if there were no wildcats on the island, there were
plenty of reptiles. Then he caught sight of a launch off to the east and
changed his plans.

His idea was to circle the camp and gain a positi