350 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



arm, untreated and untended, was aching with the 

 agonies of its fevered state, but he was glad of the 

 chance of t-ending the two little fluffy orphans. 



Ned Thompson had seen this, too, and, next 

 morning, he came quietly to where Shan lay, 

 plucked out the little Albatross chicks from under 

 the wounded boy's arm, wrung their necks with a 

 smile of contempt and flung them down at Shan's 

 feet. 



Not even that could wring a word from the boy. 



Hardly stopping for sleep, the Japanese feather 

 poachers worked incessantly. According to the 

 boy's story, they had but ten days. That meant 

 only nine days, for they must be away early enough 

 to avoid meeting any other vessel. It would take 

 two days to load. That left but seven days for the 

 slaughter. Three days had passed, and already 

 half the birds of the island were slain. 



That night, Shan, lying with his ear to the 

 ground, thought that he heard, afar off, the ' ' chug- 

 chug" of a motor-boat. 



He lifted his head to listen. 



Silence. 



He laid his head down, and again clearly could 

 hear, or rather could feel, a muffled vibration over 

 the water. 



