too. But it was not intended, so it seems,
that I should do so."

"Why does Adrian Van Zoon want me put out of the way?"

"That I don't know, Peter, but when you escape from the island you must
find out."

His eyelids drooped and closed once more, and when Robert felt for his
pulse a third time there was none. The slaver and pirate was gone, and
the lad was alone.

Robert felt an immense desolation. Whatever the man was he had striven
to keep him alive, and at the last the captain had shown desire to undo
some of the evil that he had done to him. And so it was Adrian Van Zoon
who wished to put him out of the way. He had suspected that before, in
fact he had been convinced of it, and now the truth of it had been told
to him by another. But, why? The mystery was as deep as ever.

Robert had buried the bodies of the sailors in the sand in graves dug
with an old bayonet that he had found in the house, and he interred the
captain in the same manner, only much deeper. Then he went back to the
house and rested a long time. The awful loneliness that he had feared
came upon him, and he wrestled with it for hours. That night it became
worse than ever, but it was so acute that it exhausted itself, and the
next morning he felt better.

Resolved not to mope, he took down the rifle, put some of the smoked
beef in his pocket, and started on a long exploration, meaning to cross
the high hills that ran down the center of the island, and see what the
other half was like.

In the brilliant sunshine his spirits took another rise. After all, he
could be much worse off. He had a good house, arms and food, and in time
a ship would come. A ship must come, and, with his usual optimism, he
was sure that it would come soon.

He passed by the lakes and noted the marshy spot where he had shot the
ducks. Others had come back and were feeding there now on the water
grasses. Doubtless they had never seen man before and did not know his
full destructiveness, but Robert resolved to have duck for his table
whenever he wanted it.

A mile or two farther and he saw another but much smaller lake, around
the edge of which duck also were feeding, showing him that the supply
was practically unlimited. Just beyond the second lake lay the range of
hills that constituted the backbone of the island, and although the sun
was hot he climbed them, their height being about a thousand feet. From
the crest he had a view of the entire island, finding the new h