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128 eight feet wide by fifteen feet long, and seven feet high at its lowest end. It contained a window on the side towards them, and beneath this was a rude bench made of a tree slab set upon flat stones. More than this, as they came closer, they discovered a stone fireplace in front of the hut, upon which rested an iron pot and several very rusty tin dishes.

"Somebody's camp!" cried Striker. "And a white man's—I'll wager a month's pay. But he ain't been here for a long while, not by the general look of things."

"No, I don't believe a soul has been near this place in a year," said Hobson. "Why, look at the spider webs; they tell the tale without anything else. Hullo, look there!"

He pointed to the side of the hut, where, on a projection, hung a dilapidated sailor's jacket, much the worse for exposure to the wind and weather. Beneath the jacket, half buried in the mud, rested a sailor's hat.

"That settles it," muttered Striker. "Whoever lived here is either dead, or else some friendly ship chanced along and took him off."

"I wonder if he left anything behind him?" put