And the woman--"The wretch! He is close as an oyster. But I will make
him open his mouth, see if I don't."

She reverted to the piece of tin. "It looks quite mysterious, like the
things you read of in stories of pirates and buried treasure."

"Yes," he admitted. "It is unquestionably a plan, a guidance, given to
a person not previously acquainted with the island but cognizant of
some fact connected with it. Unfortunately none of the buccaneers I can
bring to mind frequented these seas. The poor beggar who left it here
must have had some other motive than searching for a cache."

"Did he dig the cave and the well, I wonder?"

"Probably the former, but not the well. No man could do it unaided."

"Why do you assume he was alone?"

He strolled towards the fire to kick a stray log. "It is only idle
speculation at the best, Miss Deane," he replied. "Would you like to
help me to drag some timber up from the beach? If we get a few big
planks we can build a fire that will last for hours. We want some extra
clothes, too, and it will soon be dark."

The request for co-operation gratified her. She complied eagerly, and
without much exertion they hauled a respectable load of firewood to
their new camping-ground. They also brought a number of coats to serve
as coverings. Then Jenks tackled the lamp. Between the rust and the
soreness of his index finger it was a most difficult operation to open