Round the isle they went. We followed with our eyes, walking the beach. The Orion scudded off a way down the bay, to the east; then went about on the starboard tack and made for the channel, where she had come in. At last she disappeared behind that point again. And then the Pearl left the trail, and again set her bowsprit toward our isle, at last dropping her anchor some two hundred yards to the northwest.
In a little, Captain Marat, Ray, Julian, and Carlos came to shore in the boat.
"Well, you gave us a proper fright," I told them, "driving that schooner in on us that way."
"Norris didn't get scared, did he?" bantered Ray.
"Yes, he did," declared Norris, speaking for himself. "And the skin all up and down my back is wrinkled even yet. This little place isn't like that up there in that rock sink, with all those holes to crawl into when you're getting licked."
"I'll tell you, Ray," I interposed. "The thing that made most of those wrinkles in his back was thinking what must have happened to you and the Pearl—seeing that schooner coming in in place of the Pearl. Now tell us how you chased the Orion in here."
"Ah," began Captain Marat. "I guess thad Orion lay all night in thee passage. We see her there when we come in."
And now the party must visit the gold-cache in the thicket.
"Well," observed Julian, "this is interesting, but I want to see your gold mine behind that waterfall."
"The waterfall isn't much for size," returned Norris, "but it's a wonderful accident of nature; and I will say Carlos's father had a remarkable head on him to discover what it hid. But wait till you see his gold mine, and the stuff in the cave, that's come out of it, and you'll have an eyeful."