"Father," he cried, in an accent of alarm, "there is a fresh litter of
leaves up stairs, which has been recently slept upon, and I miss a
knife that I left the last time we were here!"




CHAPTER VII.

THE SEARCH FOR THE UNKNOWN--THREE FLEETS ON DRY LAND--THE
INDISCRETIONS OF A SUGAR CANE--LARBOARD AND STARBOARD--THE SUPPOSED
SENSIBILITY OF PLANTS--THE FLY-TRAP--VENDETTA--ROOT AND GERM--MINE AND
COUNTERMINE--THE POLYPI--OVIPAROUS AND VIVIPAROUS--A QUID PRO QUO.


"Have any of you been at Falcon's Nest lately?" inquired Becker, when
he had verified the truth of Fritz's intelligence.

"None of us," unanimously replied all the boys.

"You will understand that the question I put to you is, under the
circumstances in which we are placed, one of the greatest moment. If,
therefore, there is any unseemly joking, any trick, or secret project
in contemplation, with which this affair is connected, do not conceal
it any longer."

All the boys again reiterated their innocence of the matter in
question.