In view of what we knew, the bonfire at our camp and the small figure across the river took on a new significance.

As Aggie said, to think of the red-haired man sleeping calmly while his lady love was so near and his rival, so to speak, hors de combat! Shortly after finishing his story, Mr. McDonald went to the stern of the boat and lifted the anchor rope.

“It is possible,” he said, “that the current will carry us to my island with a little judicious management.  Even though we miss it, we’ll hardly be worse off than we are.”

It was surprising we had not thought of it before, for the plan succeeded admirably.  By moving a few feet at a time and then anchoring, we made slow but safe progress, and at last touched shore.  We got out, and Mr. McDonald built a large fire, near which we put Aggie to steam.  His supper, which he had not had time to eat, he generously divided, and we heated the tea.  Hutchins, however, refused to eat.

Warmth and food restored Tish’s mind to its usual keenness.  I recall now the admiration in Mr. McDonald’s eyes when she suddenly put down the sandwich she was eating and exclaimed:—­

“The flags, of course!  He told her to watch for a red flag as she came up the river; so when the party saw ours they landed.  Perhaps they still think it is his camp and that he is away overnight.”

“That’s it, exactly,” he said.  “Think of the poor wretch’s excitement when he saw your flag!”

Still, on looking back, it seems curious that we overlooked the way the red-headed man had followed Hutchins about.  True, men are polygamous animals, Tish says, and are quite capable of following one woman about while they are sincerely in love with somebody else.  But, when you think of it, the detective had apparently followed Hutchins from the start, and had gone into the wilderness to be near her, with only a suitcase and a mackintosh coat; which looked like a mad infatuation.

[Tish says she thought of this at the time, and that; from what she had seen of the P.T.S., Hutchins was much prettier.  But she says she decided that men often love one quality in one girl and another in another; that he probably loved Hutchins’s beauty and the amiability of the P.T.S.  Also, she says, she reflected that the polygamy of the Far East is probably due to this tendency in the male more than to a preponderance of women.]

Tish called me aside while Mr. McDonald was gathering firewood.  “I’m a fool and a guilty woman, Lizzie,” she said.  “Because of an unjust suspicion I have possibly wrecked this poor boy’s life.”

I tried to soothe her.  “They might have been wretchedly unhappy together, Tish,” I said; “and, anyhow, I doubt whether he is able to support a wife.  There’s nothing much in keeping a livery stable nowadays.”

“There’s only one thing that still puzzles me,” Tish observed:  “granting that the grocery order was a grocery order, what about the note?”