Leith was not in sight.
"Where is he?" gasped Holman.
The Professor looked up in mild astonishment. "Who?" he asked.
"Leith!" cried the boy. "Where has he gone?"
"Mr. Leith has gone forward to help Soma," squeaked the Professor. "It
will be moonlight, so he took the opportunity of making certain about
the direction we were to go in the morning. He said he would not be back
before daylight."
Holman mastered his anger, and I beckoned the Professor to one side. It
was necessary to make an attempt to convince the foolish old scientist
that we were in the hands of a scoundrel, and I determined to place the
note and our suspicions before him.
I told hurriedly of the appearance of the figure upon the stone table on
the previous evening, but before I had time to tell of the note, the
doddering old imbecile interrupted.
"What's that?" he cried. "Some one else upon the island? Well, they
can't steal the honour of the discoveries. I have first claim upon
everything we find upon the place. Mr. Leith and I made that arrangement
before we left Sydney. Besides, it is Mr.
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