“At any rate there was a man,” I persisted.  “And he couldn’t have been the Captain either, for he was wearing dark clothes—­”

“The devil!  I say, Branscome, listen to this—­”

“I am listening,” answered the Captain, gravely, taking, as he stepped forward, a long look at the bank above us and at the dense forest to right and left.  “Did you see the man’s face, Harry?”

“No, sir, or I should not have mistaken him for Mr. Rogers.  He was standing there, under the boughs, and seemed to be looking through them and watching me.  I was sculling the boat along with a paddle slipped in the stern notch, and he let me come pretty close—­I couldn’t have been two hundred yards away—­when he slipped to the back of the trees, and I lost him.”

“You didn’t see him again?”

“No, sir; I didn’t land just at once.  I had a mind at first to put about and row to the schooner, thinking that Mr. Rogers had meant it for a hint.  When I brought the boat ashore, five minutes later, he was gone.”

“Which way did you take, then?”

“I went straight after you, sir, up the waterfalls; but couldn’t find any trace of you except at one spot just beside a waterfall—­the fourth, it was—­where some one had slipped a foot—­”

“Mr. Rogers,” the Captain interrupted, “we had best get back to the Espriella with all speed.  I may tell you, Harry, that we never went up by the waterfalls at all.  It was a climb, and my half-pay leg didn’t like the look of it.  But, jump into your boat, boy, and pull ahead of us.  You and I must do a little serious talking later on.”

We pulled back briskly for the Espriella and reached her just as she began to swing with the turn of the tide.  As we drew close—­the cockboat leading—­I glanced over my shoulder and spied Plinny leaning against the bulwarks by the starboard quarter, in the attitude of one gently enjoying the sunset scene; but at the sight of my torn shirt all her composure left her, and she came running to the accommodation ladder, where she met me with a string of agitated questions.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” said Captain Branscome, as the dinghy fell alongside and he climbed on deck.  “I have no wish to alarm you, and, indeed, there may be no cause at all for alarm.  But Harry has brought us some serious news.  He reports that there is a man—­a stranger—­on the Island.”

“How could Harry have known?” was Plinny’s unexpected response.

“He is confident that he saw a man, somewhat more than an hour since, standing at the head of the creek.”

“Now, that is very curious,” said Plinny; “for the gentleman told me he had borrowed Harry’s boat without being observed.”

“I—­I beg your pardon, ma’am!” Captain Branscome stared about him.  “A gentleman, did you say?”

“Yes, and such distinguished manners!  He left a message for you—­and, dear me, you should have heard how he praised my coffee!”