Both officers obeyed promptly. Alwyn, on hands and knees, went on. Presently he rejoined them.
"It's too late," he said in a low voice. "There is an armed pirate outside every hut."
CHAPTER XV
How Minalto Fared
Burgoyne and his companions were on the horns of a dilemma. If they persisted in their attempt to regain their quarters they would almost certainly be detected, while even if they succeeded they would be unable to return to the cliff. Minalto would have to be left to take his chance, and the gaunt evidence of the night's work would be laid bare with the dawn. If they returned to the cliff there was the possibility that they would have to hide all next day, and be faced with the awkward problem of explaining their absence satisfactorily.
They chose the latter course, and upon returning to the scene of the lowering operations they flung themselves flat upon the turf, lest their silhouettes would betray them to the pirates stationed about the camp and concealed in the bushes on the summit of Observation Hill.
There they lay, hardly daring to stir a limb and maintaining absolute silence for the best part of an hour. Then the searchlight, which had been playing continuously upon the island, was suddenly masked. Twenty minutes later Burgoyne cautiously raised his head and looked seaward. A flickering white light informed him that the vessel was steaming rapidly away.
"Hang on here," he whispered to his companions "I'm going to have a look round."
He was back in a quarter of an hour, with the report that he had seen the pirate guard form up and march through the gate of the compound.