the two sisters, and myself.  The Professor’s insane craving for a sight of the antiquities would probably make him a partisan of the big brute till his devilish tricks were laid sufficiently bare to allow the childish mind of the scientist to see through them.  The situation was pitiful to contemplate, and sick with terror at thoughts of the fate of the two girls, I found Holman and pulled him out of the circle of light thrown by the fire which Kaipi was tending.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’ve got proof!” I cried.  “Soma dropped a note that Leith sent him off with when we halted.  Kaipi found it and brought it to me.”

I recited the few words that were now pounding madly through my brain, but the mere recitation would not satisfy Holman.  He wanted to see the words—­to stare at them, so that his eyes might confirm the information which his ears had gathered, and together we dived deeper into the creepers till it was safe for him to light a match by which he could view the scrawl.

“My God!” he cried hoarsely.  “He’s a devil, Verslun!  We’re fools!  Infernal fools!  Do you hear me?  I’ll shoot the brute now!”

He flung aside my hands and made a dash toward the fire, plunging through the creepers with a strength born of the sudden flame of temper which had come with the confirmation of Leith’s duplicity.  The boy’s love for Barbara Herndon made him a madman as he raced madly to obtain vengeance from the brute who had led us into the trap.

Like two maniacs we rushed into the light of the fire, but only the two girls and the Professor were seated round it.  Leith was not in sight.

“Where is he?” gasped Holman.

The Professor looked up in mild astonishment.  “Who?” he asked.

“Leith!” cried the boy.  “Where has he gone?”

“Mr. Leith has gone forward to help Soma,” squeaked the Professor.  “It will be moonlight, so he took the opportunity of making certain about the direction we were to go in the morning.  He said he would not be back before daylight.”

Holman mastered his anger, and I beckoned the Professor to one side.  It was necessary to make an attempt to convince the foolish old scientist that we were in the hands of a scoundrel, and I determined to place the note and our suspicions before him.

I told hurriedly of the appearance of the figure upon the stone table on the previous evening, but before I had time to tell of the note, the doddering old imbecile interrupted.

“What’s that?” he cried.  “Some one else upon the island?  Well, they can’t steal the honour of the discoveries.  I have first claim upon everything we find upon the place.  Mr. Leith and I made that arrangement before we left Sydney.  Besides, it is Mr. Leith’s island, and if other scientists are here—­

“Oh, confound it!  Who said they were scientists?” roared Holman.  “It’s bad luck for us that they are not.  Scientists are harmless, but these are natives or something worse.”