have seen
only them and the castor-oil beans, that Tommy took such a dose of. You
see, William, there is no saying what new seeds may have been brought
here by birds, or by the winds and waves."

"But will those seeds grow?"

"Yes, William; I have been told that seeds may remain hundreds of years
under-ground, and come up afterwards when exposed to the heat."

They continued their way, and had not walked for more than a quarter of
an hour, when William cried out, "I see the blue sky, Ready; we shall
soon be out; and glad shall I be, for my arm aches with chopping."

"I dare say it does, sir. I am just as glad as you are, for I'm tired
of marking the trees; however, we must continue to mark, or we shall not
find our way back when we want it."

In ten minutes more they were clear of the cocoa-nut grove, and found
themselves among brushwood higher than their heads; so that they could
not see how far they were from the shore.

"Well," said William, throwing down his hatchet, "I'm glad that's over;
now let us sit down a little before we go any further."

"I'm of your opinion, sir," replied Ready, sitting down by the side of
William; "I feel more tired to-day than I did when we first went through
the wood, after we set off from the cove. I suppose it's the weather.
Come back, dogs; lie down."

"The weather is very fine, Ready."

"Yes, now it is; but I meant to have said that the rainy season is very
trying to the health, and I suppose I have not recovered from it yet.
You have had a regular fever, and, of course, do not feel strong; but a
man may have no fever, and yet his health suffer a great deal from it.
I am an old man, William, and feel these things now."

"I think that before we go on, Ready, we had better have our dinner;
that will do us good."

"Well, we will take an early dinner, and we shall get rid of one bottle
of water, at all events; indeed, I think that, as we must go back by the
same way we came, we may as well leave our knapsacks and everything but
our guns under these trees; I dare say we shall sleep here too, for I
told Mr Seagrave positively not to expect us back to-night. I did not
like to say so before your mother, she is so anxious about you."

They opened their knapsacks, and made their meal, the two dogs coming in
for their share; after which they again started on their discoveries.
For about ten minutes they continued to force their way through the
thick and high bushes, till at l