What was it that Ledscha saw there so fascinating that she did not even
hear his low call? His father and Labaja had undoubtedly left his
grandmother's house long ago, and were looking for him in vain.

Yes, he was right; the old pirate's shrill whistle reached his ear from
the Owl's Nest, and he was accustomed to obedience.

So, lightly touching Ledscha on the shoulder, he whispered that he must
return to the island at once. His father would be rejoiced if she went
with him.

"To-morrow," she answered in a tone of resolute denial. Then, reminding
him once more of the meaning of the signals she had promised to give, she
waved her hand to him, sprang swiftly past him to the prow of the boat,
caught an overhanging bough of the willow on the shore, and, as she had
learned during the games of her childhood, swung herself as lightly as a
bird into the thicket at the water's edge, which concealed her from every
eye.




CHAPTER XII.

Without even vouchsafing Hanno another glance, Ledscha glided forward in
the shadow of the bushes to the great sycamore, whose thick, broad top on
the side toward the tents was striped with light from the flood of
radiance streaming from them. On the opposite side the leafage vanished
in the darkness of the night, but Myrtilus had had a bench placed there,
that he might rest in the shade, and from this spot the girl could obtain