Nevertheless, we must view the matter calmly, and
consider what steps we should take to unravel the mystery."
"Let us instantly beat up the island," suggested Fritz.
"It appears to me," remarked Willis, "that the _Nelson_ has been
wrecked after all, and that one of the men has escaped."
"That," replied Ernest, "is very unlikely. All the crew knew that the
island was inhabited, and consequently, had any one of them been
thrown on shore, he would have come at once to Rockhouse, and not
stopped here."
"As regards the Captain or Lieutenant Dunsley," said Willis, "who were
on shore, and could easily find their way, what you say is quite true;
but the men were kept on board; and if we suppose that a sailor had
been thrown on the opposite coast, he would not be able to determine
his position in fifteen days."
"Much less could he expect to find a villa in a fig-tree."
"To say nothing of the light that has been kept burning recently on
Shark's Island, nor of the buildings with which the land is strewn,
nor the fields and plantations that are to be met with in all
directions. For, although a swallow alone is sufficient to convey the
seeds of a forest from one continent to another, still it requires the
hand of man to arrange the trees in rows and furnish them with props."
"Perhaps we may have crossed each other on the way; and the stranger,
after passing the night here, has steered, by some circuitous route,
in the direction of Safety Bay.
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