Very confident of his ability, the usurping pilot took his place before the wheel as the seamen prepared to shove the plane into the water.
Johnny Thompson had been looking on with interest when, all at once, his eye was caught by a stranger who had silently joined the group that stood about. He wore an oriental costume, yet he was a white man.
Johnny started. At first he thought it was the Professor who had garbed himself in the clothing left in the cabin while his own clothing dried. But instantly he knew he was wrong; this man’s face was too brown and too much seamed to be that of the Professor.
Like a flash, the truth dawned upon him: This was the Professor’s brother. He had not been drowned at the time of the wreck of the Chinese ship, but had, somehow, saved himself after the others had been picked up by the passing steamer. It had been he who had built the cabin by the cliff. That explained the presence of the razor in the cabin. It explained, too, the mystery of the missing chests; he had brought them ashore and had hidden them somewhere on the island.
He had been hiding out, but, on seeing the ship wrecked the previous night, had doubtless decided to cast his lot with these marooned men.
He did not have long to wait for the proof that at least some of these conclusions were correct, for almost instantly the Professor, turning, saw the stranger. For a second his face went white and he seemed about to fall. He recovered himself and sprang forward, and the two men embraced one another, like two children who had been a long time separated.
But now Johnny’s attention was attracted by a suppressed laugh from the men about him, who had been watching the new pilot in his attempt to start the “Dust Eater.” As he looked, he saw that the man’s face was as black as it might have been had he smeared it with burnt cork.
What had happened was that having attempted to start the engine, and having failed, he had climbed back to the fuel tank and there had unscrewed the top, thinking to see if there was gasoline in it. In attempting to look inside, he had put his face too close to the opening, had blown into it, and the feathery coal dust with which the boys had filled the tank had risen up in a cloud to besmirch his damp visage.
The purser was in a fine rage. He ordered the sailor who had rowed him out to the “Dust Eater” in the canvas boat to take him ashore. Once his feet touched the beach, he came racing toward Johnny and Pant.
“Leave this to me,” said Pant. “You and the Professor quietly drop out of the bunch, and then make your way to the north end of the island as quickly as possible.”