Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/150

 Walston's secret, and Walston would have no hesitation in killing him as soon as he had no need of his help to guide the boat to the continent. If Evans has not slipped away from his companions by now, it is because he is too well guarded."

"Or that he has already paid with his life for an attempt to escape," said Donagan. "And so, Kate, unless you wish to be recaptured — "

"Do you think I would not do all I could to avoid being caught?"

"Of course you would," said Briant. "But we will never let you run the risk. No I We must seek out some less dangerous way of discovering if Walston is still on Charman Island."

Kate's proposal having been rejected, there was no more to do than keep a good look-out. Evidently if Walston was able to leave the island he would do so before the wet season began, so as to reach some country where he and his companions would be welcomed, as all shipwrecked folks are welcomed, no matter whence they may come.

If Walston was in the island he seemed to have no intention of exploring the interior. Frequently, on the dark nights, Briant, Donagan, and Moko had crossed the lake in the yawl, and never had they seen a fire, either on the opposite bank, or beneath the trees down East River.