“That’s right, Johnny. And now—goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” he replied, softly.
Halfway between midnight and morning, when even the bats were less active, and the whole tropical world seemed asleep, Johnny was amazed to hear the sudden roll of a native drum, from the island. The very sound of it at that eerie hour, set his blood racing and his skin prickling.
“Drums!” he ejaculated. “What can that mean?”
For a time the weird beats were a steady roll. Then they began breaking up; two beats, a pause—one beat—pause, three beats—pause....
“Like a message,” he whispered. Then with a start, he recalled the message of the green arrow—undeciphered in his pocket!
Dragging it out, he began decoding it, growing more and more wildly excited every minute.
“H—E—” he worked it out “L—P! HELP!”
“Someone is in trouble,” he whispered. “But there are only three letters left. Rapidly he studied these out.
“Help Mil—”