THE PLUME PIRATES 351 



The boy's heart beat with delight. There was 

 but one motor-boat likely to come near Lysianski 

 Island — that of the Feather Man. 



Shivering from excitement as well as from 

 fever, Shan lay still and listened. For an hour 

 he heard the beating, which seemed to grow slower 

 and fainter and then died away. 



As Shan's hopes had risen high, so, now, they 

 fell low. Almost, he feared, the Feather Man 

 must have abandoned him. This thought he dis- 

 missed as soon as it formed itself in his mind. He 

 knew the Feather Man too well for that. There 

 must be some other solution. 



Alone wakeful on the island, Shan thought long 

 and intently. Then he remembered that while the 

 beating of the motor boat had become fainter, it 

 had also become slower. Quite possibly the cessa- 

 tion of the throbbing was not because it had be- 

 come too far off to hear, but because it was too 

 close to risk discovery by the pulsation of the 

 engine. Yet, listen as he might, there was no 

 plash of oars. 



The night was still, there was no sound save 

 that 01 a seal heaving itself up clumsily on the 

 beach not far from where Shan lay. Seals were 

 not common on those islands and Shan wished for 



