[Illustration]
CHAPTER VII
THE PIT
We were under way early on the morning after I joined the party. Leith
had the camp astir by daybreak, and after a hasty breakfast we trailed
off behind Soma and the carriers, heading directly toward the basalt
towers that rose up in the middle of the island.
I for one was not sorry that we were making an early start. All through
the night I lay awake expecting another member of the crew to rush into
camp with a message from Newmarch to Leith, and when we started on the
trail, I took particular care to lag behind the procession for the first
few hours so that I would be in a position to intercept any diligent
runner from _The Waif_. I took the first opportunity of telling Holman
of the manner in which the bilious Englishman had hastened my departure
with the Winchester, and the youngster's face wore a perplexed
expression.
"That precious captain is Leith's partner in villainy," he cried, "but
our hands are tied. The Professor is simply crazy with delight over the
things that the brute is going to guide him to, and all our suspicions
don't amount to much when you put them together.
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