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.
Becker then called to mind the mysterious disappearance of Willis, and, although they were too short in duration to admit of his having been at Falcon's Nest, still he deemed it advisable to put the question to him individually.
Willis declared that the present was the first time he had been in the vicinity of the Nest, and his word was known to be sacred.
"There can be no mistake then," said Becker; "the traces are self-evident.

This is altogether a circumstance calculated to give us serious uneasiness.

Nevertheless, we must view the matter calmly, and consider what steps we should take to unravel the mystery." "Let us instantly beat up the island," suggested Fritz.
"It appears to me," remarked Willis, "that the _Nelson_ has been wrecked after all, and that one of the men has escaped." "That," replied Ernest, "is very unlikely.

All the crew knew that the island was inhabited, and consequently, had any one of them been thrown on shore, he would have come at once to Rockhouse, and not stopped here." "As regards the Captain or Lieutenant Dunsley," said Willis, "who were on shore, and could easily find their way, what you say is quite true; but the men were kept on board; and if we suppose that a sailor had been thrown on the opposite coast, he would not be able to determine his position in fifteen days." "Much less could he expect to find a villa in a fig-tree." "To say nothing of the light that has been kept burning recently on Shark's Island, nor of the buildings with which the land is strewn, nor the fields and plantations that are to be met with in all directions.