Movement of any kind was
forbidden. There was no knowing who might be astir on the hills, and a
sharp eye might note the presence of foreigners in Cotton-Tree Bay.
Hozier had not forgotten the risk of detection from the shore, and the
vessel was plentifully decorated with greenery. The long, large-leafed
vines and vigorous castor-oil plants were peculiarly useful at this
crisis. Trailing over the low freeboard into the water, they screened
the launch so completely that Watts and the Norwegian, perched high
above the creek at a distance of three hundred yards, could only guess
her whereabouts when the search-light made the Gomez plantation light
as day.
The cruiser evidently discovered traces of the _Andromeda_ on
Grand-pere. She stopped an appreciable time, and created a flutter in
many anxious hearts by a loud hoot of her siren. It did not occur to
anyone at the moment that she was signaling to the troops bivouacked on
South Point. De Sylva was the first to read this riddle aright. He
whispered his belief, and it soon won credence, since the warship
continued her scrutiny of the coast-line.
At last, after a wearying delay, she vanished. Five minutes later,
Watts and Olsen brought the welcome news that she was returning to the
roadstead.
It was then half-past two o'clock, and the sun would rise soon after
five.
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