on light the men of the _Mirabelle_ made their way
back to the ship, "'tis my advice you had best return with us now, or
you might be missed by one or another of the men, and they have much
time to think. You shall do what has been set for you to do--we shall
stay here another day to take on water and fresh fruits."

He looked smilingly down at Chris but his eyes were concerned. "It
will not be a moment too soon for me until I see you safe and sound on
board again, my lad," he said, "for I like you well and would have no
smallest harm come to you."

Together they went down to the beach and the waiting dinghy. Chris
dared not look at the sky above them for he knew night was darkening
it, and with the night he must leave.

CHAPTER 25

As soon as the night was dark enough, Chris loudly complained of not
feeling well--of being hot and dizzy, and in no time Captain Blizzard
had, as loudly, told him he was to go to bed on a cot in the Captain's
cabin. Captain Blizzard closed the door behind him, and in Amos's and
Ned Cilley's hearing, told Mr. Finney that he was much afraid that
Chris had a touch of the sun and was coming down with a tropical
fever.

Chris remained alone in the cabin from that time. Soon, in the cool of
the night, the sailors of the _Mirabelle_ set out in dinghies to a
cascade of fresh water that emptied itself into the cove at its
farther end, taking with them casks and barrels to replenish the
ship's water supply. Their deep voices swept back over the water to
where Chris stood by the open port of the Captain's cabin. He was
forcing himself toward the moment when he must board the _Vulture_.
His resolve was held back by his mounting anxiety as to how best to
carry out what would be necessary, and a strong natural reluctance to
leave the _Mirabelle_.

Leave it he must. He stood pondering on what shape to assume, and when
he heard the cry of a belated night bird, and saw it coast by on
silent wings to vanish in the night, he decided to take that shape. It
took all his courage and determination, but this was the first step
toward what he had trained for so long to do, and he knew he must do
it, and at once. The boy looked a last time around the cabin, then
spoke the magic formula in his mind, and, with a sudden enjoyment in
the sense of flight, he soared away from the ship out over the cove.

[Illustration]

The bird swept twice around the _Mirabelle_, rising higher as it went.
Below, the fe