"Another cave?" queried George, without stopping.
"No; our boat."
There, perched less than five feet above the level of the ocean, was the boat which they had left at the foot of the falls in the South River, fully three months before. One of the puzzling mysteries was solved.
It was some labor to dislodge the boat from its position between the cleft branches of shrubbery which also held other debris, and furthermore the boat was full of all sorts of rubbish. This was laboriously removed.
"You will remember I stated at the time of the disappearance the most likely explanation would be that high water coming on suddenly would wrench the boat from its fastenings, and——"
The Professor got no further; he suddenly stopped and glanced to the forward end of the boat. "Who tied on that rope? It really does look as though some one has used the boat. That is not one of the oars we made."
"But where are the lockers we had on the boat, in which we put our provisions?"
"They have been removed by some one. This is a rope entirely unlike any we have had, and it is a native, or rather, hand-made article."
"Well, we have struck a greater mystery now than when we lost the boat."
This discovery brought up several other questions which, as it now appeared, might be linked together. The removal of the flag and flagstaff; the "hole" in the hill; the fire in the forest; the branded bull, all indicated that people had, at various times, visited the island. But the finding of their boat, with the positive evidence furnished by the oar and the rope, was conclusive, and what made it the more interesting was the fact that the island must have had such a visit within two, or at the most, not over three months ago.