“That,” replied Ernest, “is very unlikely.  All the crew knew that the island was inhabited, and consequently, had any one of them been thrown on shore, he would have come at once to Rockhouse, and not stopped here.”

“As regards the Captain or Lieutenant Dunsley,” said Willis, “who were on shore, and could easily find their way, what you say is quite true; but the men were kept on board; and if we suppose that a sailor had been thrown on the opposite coast, he would not be able to determine his position in fifteen days.”

“Much less could he expect to find a villa in a fig-tree.”

“To say nothing of the light that has been kept burning recently on Shark’s Island, nor of the buildings with which the land is strewn, nor the fields and plantations that are to be met with in all directions.  For, although a swallow alone is sufficient to convey the seeds of a forest from one continent to another, still it requires the hand of man to arrange the trees in rows and furnish them with props.”

“Perhaps we may have crossed each other on the way; and the stranger, after passing the night here, has steered, by some circuitous route, in the direction of Safety Bay.”

“May it not have been a large monkey,” suggested Jack, “who has resolved to play us a trick for having massacred its companions at Waldeck?”

“Monkeys,” replied Ernest, “do not generally open doors, and, seeing no bed prepared for them, go down stairs and collect material for a mattress.  You may just as well fancy that the monkey, in this case, came to pass the night at Falcon’s Nest with a cigar in its mouth.”

“Then he must have been dreadfully annoyed to find neither slippers nor a night-cap.”

“There is, unquestionably, a wide field of supposition open for us,” said Becker; “but that need not prevent us taking active measures to arrive at the truth.  Our first duty is to care for the safety of the ladies; Mr. Wolston is still ailing and feeble, so that, if a stranger were suddenly to appear amongst them, they might be terribly alarmed.”

“There are six of us here,” remarked Willis, “the cream of our sea and land forces; we could divide ourselves into three squadrons, one of which might sail for Rockhouse.”

“Just so; let Fritz and Frank start for Rockhouse.”

“And what shall we say to the ladies, father?” inquired the latter; “it does not seem to me necessary to alarm our mother, Mrs. Wolston, and the young ladies, until something more certain is ascertained.”

“Your idea is good, my son, and I thank you for bringing it forward; it is one of those that arise from the heart rather than the head.”

“We have, only to find a pretext for their sudden return,” observed Ernest.

“Very well,” said Jack, “they have only to say it is too hot to work.”

“Just as if it were not quite as hot for us as for them.  Your excuse, Jack, is not particularly artistic.”