THE BOY SCOUTS ON PICKET DUTY

by Scout Master Robert Shaler

CONTENTS

CHAPTERS I. The Mysterious Steamer II. A Contraband Cargo III. On a Lone Scout IV. The Hut on the Beach V. Kidnapped by Smugglers VI. The Flight of the "Arrow" VII. A Gathering of the Clan VIII. The Blazing Beacon IX. Deeds in the Darkness X. The End of the Raid XI. Aboard the "Arrow" XII. A Surprising Adventure

CHAPTER I

THE MYSTERIOUS STEAMER

In the wake of an easterly squall the sloop _Arrow_, Lemuel Vintonmaster and owner, was making her way along the low coast, southward, from Snipe Point, one of the islands in Florida Bay about twelvemiles northeast of Key West. 

With every sail closehauled and drawing until the bolt ropes creakedunder the strain, the _Arrow_ laid a fairly straight course towardKey West. She bore a startling message, the nature of which hercaptain had considered of sufficient importance for him to prolonga cruise he had undertaken and to hasten back to the port whencehe had sailed, twenty-four hours previously, to inform the authorities. 

The sloop had not sped far from the Point, and the receding shoreline had scarcely grown dimly blue on the horizon under a peculiaryellow-gray sunrise, when Captain Vinton's crew began to maketheir appearance on deck. The crew consisted of five Boy Scouts, an older companion who was in charge of them, and a Seminole Indianguide, called Dave, who had been hired to conduct the boys ona brief exploration of the Everglades. Four of the boys belongedto a troop of scouts who had their summer headquarters at PioneerCamp, far away among the New England hills. They had, however, formed a resolution to spend the present summer not at PioneerCamp, where most of their younger comrades would be, but in seeingsome new sections of their native land. To this end, three ofthem---Hugh Hardin, his chum Billy Worth, and Chester Brownell---hadgladly accepted an invitation from the fourth, Alec Sands, tospend a month at Palmdune, the Florida residence of Alec's father, who had sent them on this cruise. With them Mr. Sands had senthis secretary, a young man named Roy Norton, who had left themtemporarily at Key West while he attended to business in Havana. When he had returned from Havana, he had found a new member ofthe party---Mark Anderson, the son of the captain of Red KeyLife-Saving Station. 

The _Arrow_ had been anchored off Snipe Point during the previousnight, where Captain Vinton had gained the information which madehim decide to return to Key West. This knowledge, which he hadalready imparted to the boys, was to the effect that throughoutthe night before, while he and Dave alternately watched, he hadseen a gray steamer or perhaps a gunboat cruising among the islandsoff the Point, occasionally coming close enough to the beach tobe made out distinctly, but showing no lights and making no signals. 

Immediately his suspicions had been aroused by this mysteriousaction. His impression was that the vessel belonged to a countrywhich was then hostile to the United States. In that case shewas either grappling for the cable between Key West and the mainlandterminus at Punta Rossa, which lay close inshore at Snipe Point, or was trying to make connection with some other vessel carryingsupplies or ammunition from some West Indian port, perhaps intendingto run the blockade. 

Why she should attempt to tamper with the cable, he could notunderstand, knowing the superior efficiency of the wireless system;but he thought she might be one of the elusive filibustering vesselsreported to have been seen in the Gulf of Mexico several days beforethis. 

Stories about these mysterious vessels had caused official ordersto be sent to Tampa and to Galveston, Texas, concerning the departureof several transports with American troops. And Captain Vintonhimself had almost encountered a notorious filibuster named JuanBego, one night during the earlier part of this pleasure cruise;that is, he had sighted a vessel which he felt sure was the _Esperanza_of Captain Bego, in waters which were supposed to be debarred to theenemy. All this had tended to make him more alert and wary thanever, even suspicious; and he had resolved to lose no time inreporting his most recent discovery. 

"You boys might as well heave them old tarpon poles overboard now, "he said seriously, as he shifted the helm. "That there craft I seenlas' night ain't Yankee built, I'll swear; and if she should take anotion to foller us, we want to be light and shipshape, without nosigns o' lubberliness that the squall may have brought to the surface. How's everything in the cabin, Dave? Tight and neat?"

The Seminole grunted, nodding his head in affirmation. Apparentlyhe was too disturbed in mind to reply verbally; besides, like most ofhis kind, he was a poor sailor, and he did not enjoy the speed atwhich the _Arrow_ was now sailing. It upset his mental balance aswell as his bodily equilibrium. 

Obeying the captain's instructions, the boys tossed overboard theirheavy poles, saving only the lines and reels. 

"When we get back to Key West, what's the first thing to do, Captain?"inquired Alec. 

"Report seeing that steamer to the naval authorities, " was Vinton'sprompt answer. 

"I didn't know there were any-----"

"There's likely to be some there now, waiting for orders. "

"And will they search for the strange vessel?"

"You bet they will! We ain't goin' to let no sneakin' furrin tubshow us her heels, ---are we, lads?"

"Not if we can help it!" exclaimed Hugh. "I guess one of Uncle Sam'srevenue cutters will give chase to that steamer, or gunboat, orwhatever she may be. "

"Not if she's a gunboat, I reckon!" quoth Vinton with a chuckle. "Cripes! that vessel was certainly a clipper for goin'! Her cap'nwas wise enough to keep to wind'ard, for he seemed to know where therough water begins to rise and how to make the most o' them keys. Never mind; off Nor'west Cape he'll have to come out like a seamanand take his duckin'! H'ist that there jib, Billy, and make Davemove his carcass where it'll do some good. "

But Dave did not want to bestir himself from his position on theweather gunwale, where he crouched dejectedly, letting the stiffbreeze dry his spray-soaked garments. He groaned, protested, grunted, and finally swore volubly as Alec prodded him, while Billy hoistedthe flying jib. 

"What for so much hurry?" he grumbled. "Get to Key West by afternoon, anyhow. Dave want plenty sleep. "

"You slept like a top for six hours last night!" declared Alec. 

"No-o; Dave watch, saw steamer, ---no more sleep, no forty winks. "

"Oh, come!" laughed Billy. "I heard you snoring, Dave; you woke meup! I thought it was thunder!"

"Nothing less than thunder or a cannon firecracker would wake you up, Billy, ---as a general rule, " said Hugh, flinging one arm over hischum's shoulders and giving him a vigorous hug. 

"Look yonder, boys!" shouted Captain Vinton at the helm. He pointedaft, and the four lads sprang to their feet and hurried toward him, alert and eager for a new surprise. 

Some distance behind them, toward the mainland, a thin trail ofsmoke which had not been seen for two or three hours was now visibleinside the keys. Could there be any reason for the reappearanceof that smoky blur against the sky? Was it made by the mysterioussteamer? If so, was she following the _Arrow_?

"By the shades o' shad, I orter know that boat!" exclaimed Vinton inpuzzled chagrin. "See? She's coaled up, goin' for all she's worth. Alec, git out my glass from the cabin, take a look, and see if there'smany men aboard. "

Alec ran to do the captain's bidding. Descending into the cabin, hetook from a locker an old-style marine telescope with which hehurriedly returned to the deck. After some focusing he managed tocatch a glimpse of the steamcraft, just before she partiallydisappeared from sight behind one of the sandy reefs that fence offthe sound. 

"The crew of the steamer seem to be quite excited, " Alec said, as hetrained the telescope upon them. "I can see sailors running acrossher deck, and two of them have just hoisted an American flag. Someothers are waving signals and---"

"What?" shouted the captain. "American flag, did you say?"

"Yes. What do you think of that?"

"Reckon she wants to speak us. "

"Why?" asked Chester. 

"Looks like this is the first time she's seen us, " said Vinton, takingthe marine glass from Alec. "But it can't be the same craft wesighted back yonder, last night. Anyhow, if they're wavin' signalflags, ---and they are, sure enough!---they must want to speak the_Arrow_. That's plain. I'm goin' to ease in more and see who'saboard. Look! the dinged old boat is comin' out from behind thebar now. "

Pondering some contingency which he did not explain to the boys, Vinton shifted the helm; and his sloop, hitherto heading in asouthwesterly direction, now began to edge closer to the lineof keys. Had Vinton not known his course so thoroughly from longexperience in sailing these channels, inlets, and lagoons, itwould have been dangerous; but he dexterously eluded the variousreefs and oyster bars and brought the _Arrow_ safely into smootherwater. Meanwhile, the boys noticed that the wind, which had blownso strongly, was beginning to slacken, thus allowing the steamerto gain on the _Arrow_ quite perceptibly. They saw then that shewas a small steamer, like a steam yacht, and light gray incolor, ---perhaps one of the United States revenue cutters. 

Captain Vinton was astonished. He had already begun to have seriousdoubts that this could be the same mysterious vessel he had seencruising about the islands the night before. All at once, unexpectedly, his doubts were resolved into a certainty that it was not the same, for even while he was wondering, a strange thing happened:

A long, low, gray shape, something like a built-for-speed tug-boatwith a short funnel, darted into view from between two keys, and, crossing the wake of the revenue cutter, glided swiftly along thevery course the _Arrow_ had taken, heading back toward Snipe Point. Before the sloop and the steamer had come within hailing distance ofeach other, the strange craft, not depending on the dying easterlywind, was well along the course, sending back---toward a trail ofdarker smoke. 

CHAPTER II

A CONTRABAND CARGO

"Well, what d'you know about that?" queried Billy, easily relapsinginto slang when the first few minutes' surprise had worn off. 

"Dunno much about it, " Captain Vinton answered in a somewhat grufftone, "but it looks to me mighty like a filibuster's craft, or p'rhapsa smuggler's. "

At the word "filibuster, " the boys---figuratively speaking---prickedup their ears. 

"What on earth can they be trying to smuggle?" was Hugh's eagerquestion, to which the captain replied promptly:

"Arms, ---leastways, cartridges or gunpowder. They ain't tryin' tosmuggle 'em _into_ Fluridy, but _out_ of it, " he explained. "Somegang of raskils is buyin' small quantities of war goods up state---orelse from Cuby---totin' 'em down the coast an' through th' Everglades, and gettin' 'em aboard some steamboat like that one, and so away wherethey'll do the most harm. Get me?"

"Yes, " replied Alec, "but I never would have thought such tricks werepossible in these days. "

"Boy, you can't never tell what's just possible or what ain't, inthese days, " gravely asserted Captain Vinton. "All sorts o' thingsis like to happen, and sometimes it's durned hard to know just what'sgoin' on. But if that's any filibustin' outfit, they'd better maketracks out o' these waters as fast as they can lay beam to wind'ard. "

So saying, he shifted the helm again and bore away at an angle thatwould enable them to come close to the revenue cutter, now scarcelya quarter of a mile astern. Lighter and lighter came the wind, slower glided the _Arrow_ over the long heavy swells, nearer andnearer came the cutter, going at a steady, rapid rate. Soon the twovessels were within hailing distance, and a megaphone call cameacross the water, clear and distinct:

"Sloop, ahoy! Can you understand?"

"Aye, aye!" called Vinton. 

The five boys gathered around him, eager to hear the interchange ofcalls. Even Dave rose and shambled over to the little group at thetiller. On the other vessel they could now see a number of men inblue uniforms and one in a civilian's suit of gray tweeds. 

"Who've you got aboard?" came the next question from the captain ofthe _Petrel_. 

Vinton briefly stated his passenger list and explained the purpose oftheir cruise. 

"Bound for Key West now?" shouted the _Petrel's_ captain, whomVinton, studying him through the marine glass, recognized as JamesKelsey. "Trying to dodge that craft that just passed us, or tryingto catch her?"

"We were goin' to report as how we seen her las' night off SnipePoint, " bawled Vinton, speaking through a megaphone which Dave hadhanded to him. "Thought you fellows were at Key West. "

"We were until this morning, " came the answer. "We've been chasingthat boat. She's the _Esperanza_, a smuggler. Have you seen herthrowing anything overboard, or picking up stuff---like boxes orsmall kegs?"

Then a light of understanding broke upon Vinton's mind. So that waswhat the smuggler had been doing all night! Not grappling for thecable, but stealthily picking up a contraband cargo of munitions ofwar, small stores such as could be cast adrift along the coast insome prearranged method and gathered in by those who had beeninstructed to recognize the floating objects! What were they?Water-tight kegs of dynamite, submerged, but buoyed up by thricetheir weight of corks? Boxes of rifle bullets? Or merely harmlessglass bottles containing, perhaps, written descriptions of the countryto be invaded, photographs of fortifications, details of naval ormilitary equipment?

The answer was not long forthcoming. 

"Ain't seen her pick up anything, " shouted Vinton, "but reckon that'sher lay. What's she after?"

"Dynamite. "

"By thunder!" ejaculated the captain in a low tone of awe. 

"Yes, that's just what they'll do, if they can, " Billy commented withone of his irrepressible grins. "They'll buy thunder. You've saidit, Cap! But what'll they use it for?"

Vinton paid not the slightest heed to Billy's poor pun. Instead, while Alec gave Billy a dig in the ribs, the captain put the samequestion to Kelsey. 

"Oh, you know they've started another one of those dinky revolutionsin Panama, two generals fighting for the presidency, " explainedKelsey. He no longer was obliged to shout curtailed messagesthrough his megaphone, but spoke through it in a tone only a fewdegrees louder than ordinarily; for the sloop and the steamerwere now almost alongside. "Well, the U. S. And Cuba want to stayentirely out of the little war game; but one side of the revolution, the Visteros, are sore at Uncle Sam and trying to make him takea hand. They've got agents in all the Gulf states, in Cuba andHayti, and they're trying to stir up trouble. "

What kind o trouble?

"Any old kind. They're not particular as to the brand. It's warstores they want, and discontented loafers for soldiers of fortune. And the Visteros are stealing dynamite to threaten the Canal. "

"Bosh!" roared Vinton in a loud guffaw. "They couldn't do it! Let'em try!"

"Yes, ---let 'em! But meanwhile, we're out to put the kibosh on thissmuggling. By the way, Vinton, now that you've made your report, youcan turn around again when you've got the wind, and go back up alongthe coast. No need to go to Key West now. "

"Hum-mp!" grunted Dave. "Waste time, get sick---all for nuthin'!"

"Shut up, you greasy Seminole!" muttered Vinton, and he turned awayscornfully. "All right, we will, " he called to the _Petrel_. "Whatyou goin' to do?"

"First find out if that craft hid anything over there behind that keywhere she was lying, and then follow her. "

More confabbing of an unimportant and general nature followedbetween Vinton and Kelsey and the man in tweeds, who was evidentlythe special correspondent of some newspaper. At the end of theconference, Kelsey called out:

"Well, I guess we'll mosey on, Lem. Goodby and good luck to you. If you meet any smugglers in the upper 'glades or along the coast, send word to Tampa; they'll rush a cutter with some of the Gulf policeto the spot. Keep a sharp eye on strange-looking craft, will you?"

"Aye, aye!" responded the _Arrow's_ captain, little knowing into whatadventures this pursuit of smugglers would lead him and his crew. 

In a few minutes the _Petrel_ had swung about and was heading in thedirection from which the _Esperanza_ had appeared. The _Arrow_ wasleft becalmed and drifting on the heavy swells of the Gulf; but hercrew, excited by the prospect of encountering freebooters of the main, forgot to be seasick, even if they had been so inclined, and fell topreparing their noonday meal. 

Vinton tilted his cap over his left eye and surveyed the trim _Arrow_with frank satisfaction, at the conclusion of their repast. 

"All shipshape, boys? Good! Reckon I'll let one of you steer awhile, and hit my bunk for an hour or two. There'll be wind out'n thesou'east, later on; and then I'll take charge again. All you've gotto do now is to turn her around, with her nose pointin' yonder, "---hewaved a hand toward the distant Sanibel Islands that stretch alongthe coast south of Charlotte Harbor, ---"and take 'vantage of everypuff of wind that you can use for tackin'. Understand?"

They signified their readiness to manage the sloop, once she had gonewell beyond any reefs or bars, and they drew lots to see who shouldbe first to take the captain's place while he rested. The draw, fell to Chester and he took charge of the helm. Alec came next, then Billy took his turn, and finally Hugh. While one steered, theothers kept a look-out for the erratic _Esperanza_, thinking itmight again appear from some unexpected quarter. Mark and RoyNorton lounged in the bow and lazily swapped fishing stories, not atall averse to leaving the work to the rest. 

With the departure of the _Petrel_ on her return to the waters nearSnipe Point, and with a barely-perceptible rise of wind, the sloop_Arrow_ laid a zigzag course toward the Ten Thousand Islands andcame abreast of them about five o'clock. Beyond a broad inlet thatled into the bay, a white sand beach, sparsely overgrown withcrabgrass and waving palmettos, indicated to Dave that they werenear one of his old camping places. He called Captain Vinton'sattention to it, hinting that it would be a good place to spendthe night. 

"Why not aboard the sloop?" queried Vinton, though he knew perfectlywell that Dave would seek any excuse to stretch his unseaworthy limbson _terra firma_ in preference to tossing on the bosom of old ocean. 

"Bad weather comin', ---windy to-night, " said the Seminole prophet, pointing to a bank of jagged slaty-gray clouds that was rising in thewest over the gulf. 

"Reckon you're right, Dave. If that brings half the wind its lookspromise, I'd ruther have these keys between it and us---eh? There'sanuther squall brewin' out yonder. Come on, let's go ashore, lads. "

Making in shoreward, the _Arrow_ presently cast anchor off a shallowcove "inside" the nearest bar. All five boys got into the sloop'sdory, and after landing the others on the beach, Hugh rowed back tothe sloop to bring the captain, Norton and the guide ashore. Whenthey landed, they discovered Billy and Alec, Chester and Markengaged in examining a big battered tin box, locked, with its coversealed up with black sealing wax, which they had found half buriedin the sand. 

"What is it? What have you got there?" Hugh asked quickly, runningforward. 

"It looks like part of Captain Kidd's buried treasure!" said Billy, whose eyes were sparkling with anticipation. 

"Nothing of the sort!" declared matter-of-fact Chester. "It'sprobably a lot of old maps and charts. "

"Let's open it and see, " was Alec's advice. 

But the captain interposed. 

"Let it alone, boys, " he said. "It's marked with a small initial 'B. 'That may stand for Bego or---bait. "

CHAPTER III

ON A LONE SCOUT

The captain's oracular advice mystified the boys until, seated bytheir evening camp fire of driftwood, he explained to them that themysterious box might be filled with articles such as Juan Bego andhis men were both hiding and collecting. 

"I dunno as he's been as far up the coast as this, " Vinton added, "but 'twouldn't be hard for a sly old sea-dog like him to creepalong these keys at night time 'most any distance. "

"Are we far from the Everglades?" asked Billy, cautiously stirringthe fire; for, in spite of the spring warmth, there was a decidedchill in the air so close to the ocean. 

"Well, the 'Glades are a good stiff hike from here, " replied thecaptain. "Eh, Dave; how about it?"

The guide made no answer. Wearied with doing nothing all day, savelying around on the deck of the _Arrow_ a prey to seasickness, he hadfallen asleep. Above the splash of the surf and the rustle of thewind in the palmettos, his snores could be heard distinctly, makingnight hideous. Alec was on the point of waking him with a nudgein the ribs, when Hugh restrained him. 

"Let him sleep, Alec, " he whispered. "Poor old Injun, he's comfortableat last!"

"So am I, " added Chester, stretching himself out on the warm sand. "This is better than those stuffy little bunks in the cabin, isn't it?"

The next minute he regretted those words, for Captain Vinton lookedat him with an aggrieved expression, as if peeved to hear anydisparagement of the _Arrow_. The good captain was inordinatelyproud of his sloop, which he preferred to all other craft; indeed, had he been offered the command of one of the gigantic Atlanticliners, it is likely that he would have declined the honor. 

Presently Vinton rose and, beginning to stroll up and down the beach, looked all around him and up at the sky in the scrutinizing way whichseafaring men have when they retire for the night or turn out in themorning, to ascertain what sort of weather they may expect. 

Overhead, he saw large masses of clouds scudding across the starryheavens, driven by the wind which bid fair to continue all night andall the next day. Off on the lagoon loomed the dark hulk and slendermast of the sloop, rising and falling on the choppy waves, her bowlight gleaming across the water like a watchful eye. At his feetlay the dory, drawn up on the sand and moored by a line fastenedto a palmetto, well out of reach of the rising tide. 

Behind him sparkled the ruddy camp fire with the recumbent figuresof the five scouts, Norton and the Indian grouped around it, andnearby lay the neat little pile of provisions and utensils coveredwith a tarpaulin. What matter if rain should chance to fall duringthe night? They had brought light blankets and rubber ponchos fromthe sloop, so they would be well protected. 

Everything was safe and in order; he was satisfied and at peace withall mankind, ---even with the smugglers who had roused his righteouswrath, ---and his youthful companions were happy, enjoying the cruiseand their adventures. 

So unpromising did the weather beyond the keys look, and so congenialseemed the lagoon and this sheltered islet, the captain came tothe conclusion that it would not be amiss if they should linger therea day or two longer than they had planned. After all, Alec's fatherhad set no time limit for the cruise and the boys were in no hurry toreturn to Santario. 

Thinking thus, he rejoined his crew around the fire and heardthem discussing a plan to take the dory and row out on the lagoonin the morning, if it were not too rough, in the hope of catchingsome fresh fish for breakfast. He assented to this plan, forhe himself intended to go aboard the _Arrow_ the first thing onthe morrow to look her over and see how she had weathered thenight. Wrapping himself in a blanket and bidding the boys followhis example, he lay down beside the embers and was soon asleep. 

Hugh and Billy, lovers of surf-bathing, would fain have taken a dipinto the breakers before going to sleep; but Alec sensibly counseledthem against this. 

"Wait till daylight If you shed your clothes now and go in, themosquitoes will eat you alive before you're dry again, " he warnedthem. "Besides, it's dangerous to go in around these shores inthe darkness. You might stumble into a hole or a sea-puss andbe carried out to sea before you knew what had happened. AndDave told me there are sharks that-----"

"Oh, forget it!" laughed Billy. "We have no intention of furnishingsupper to a shark. Anyway, real, live, man-eating sharks are asscarce as hens' teeth---almost. "

Nevertheless, being overruled by Hugh, who saw the wisdom of Alec'sadvice, he promptly abandoned the desire for a plunge; and, as hesoon learned, they did well to seek the protection of their smokesmudge, for the mosquitoes were truly formidable. Even under thecanopy of smoke, these noxious insects darted viciously to bite andtorment the campers. Time and time again, the boys were awakenedfrom sleep by the attacks of these buzzing pests; but at last theygrew more accustomed to such onslaughts, and pulling nets closelyaround their limbs and faces, they sank into deeper slumber. 

* * * * * *

"The evening red, the morning graySets the traveler on his way. The evening gray, the morning redBrings showers down upon his head. "

Hugh whispered these words softly to himself when he awoke in thedim twilight hour just before dawn. It was still too dark for himto distinguish objects clearly, and for a moment he felt that queersensation of being lost, of not knowing just where he was---thatfeeling which sometimes comes to one even in the most familiarsurroundings. At once, however, it left him, and the little rhymecrept into his mind instead. 

"Wonder why I waked up so suddenly?" was his silent query as helay there blinking up at the sky, watching the few visible starsgrow pale and paler. "Thought I heard some noise like distantthunder, very far away, and then it changed into the sound ofmuffled oars, or the tchug-chug-tchug of a motor boat. Then avoice said softly, 'It's a fine morn---' Oh, pshaw! Must havebeen dreaming. Is anybody else awake?"

He sat up and peered through the dusk. No, his companions werestill asleep, prone on the sand. The breeze had lessened andthe nocturnal insects had begun to take flight into the shadowyundergrowth, retreating before the advance of day. Across thedark stretch of water between this island and the mainland a flockof waterfowl flew noiselessly and vanished over the dunes. Thesurf broke with monotonous, soothing rhythm, stirring the silencewith little waves of sound. 

"It must have been the surf I heard, " Hugh thought, still tryingto decide what had roused him from sleep. 

Quietly rising, so as not to disturb his friends, he stole downto the beach and stood gazing at the sloop, which now rode calmlyat anchor, her bow light still shining. 

"And yet it did sound like a motor boat, " he said aloud. 

The sound of his own voice, breaking the stillness, almost startledhim. With a short, low laugh at his habit of talking aloud whenalone, he turned his back on camp and walked on for some littledistance up the beach, until he rounded a curve of the shore andsaw before him a narrow channel separating the island on which hestood from another, slightly larger. Clumps of young palms grew onthat other island, taller and greener than those around the campingplace. Hugh had been told that a palmetto bud cut out of a young, fresh, green palm would be fine with a piece of fat pork in makinga stew; so he felt tempted to swim across the estuary and gather achoice bud. 

The fact is, this desire was chiefly an excuse for a bit of exploration. Hugh loved to prowl around in unfamiliar places even if he werealone, though he naturally preferred to share a quest of discoverieswith some comrade. So now, shedding his coat, outer shirt, and shoes, but retaining his other garments for protection against mosquitoes, he dived into the inlet and swam across it easily. 

Continuing his tramp, he presently found himself on the slope of asandy mound which formed the northeastern extremity of the smallisland. From the top of this he could obtain a good view of thesurrounding islands and the mainland. He sat down to rest on themound and to enjoy the outlook. 

By this time the eastern sky was beginning to show a pale rosy glow, and soon the first rays of the rising sun turned the edges of cloudsinto flame. Across this glowing expanse the mainland stretched asfar as the eye could see, a dark, low-lying, emerald-hued mass, varied and mysterious. 

As Hugh gazed, the sun rose into view, flooding earth and sky and seawith glorious light. The boy drew a deep breath of wonder and turnedto look around him on all sides. As he did so, his eyes rested onsomething which changed his breath of admiration into a gasp ofastonishment. 

At the base of the mound on which he sat, partly hidden by clumpsof stunted cypress and palms, was a small hut built of bambooand thatched with palm leaves. It was built in the form of alean-to against the slope of a sand dune near the shore, and atfirst glance it seemed to be part of the island itself. Indeed, it was so well concealed that Hugh might never have noticed itat all, save for the fact that he caught sight of a canoe with threemen in it approaching the hut, from behind still another island. 

Some instinct warned him not to let himself be seen, and he sliddown from the top of the mound and lay flat, watching the canoe. He felt like a scout in the enemy's territory, or a sentry on duty, stationed there to observe the actions of unknown foes. 

To his surprise, the canoe came to land directly in front of thehut, and the three men sprang out into the shallow water and drewit up on the beach. From the bottom of the canoe they lifted a longobject rolled in canvas. Suspending this from their shoulders, theydisappeared into the hut. 

CHAPTER IV

THE HUT ON THE BEACH

Hugh was agog with curiosity. He felt that he must find out who werethose three stealthy strangers and what they were doing there. 

"Perhaps they're smugglers, " was his first thought. "If they are, I'd be doing a real service to Uncle Sam if I could report theirwhereabouts to the _Petrel_ when she comes back this way. Gee! it'sworth the risk! Here goes!"

Without stopping to think much more about it, Hugh began to creepforward on hands and knees down the mound and quite close to thebamboo lean-to. Though usually unwilling to play the part of aneavesdropper, he felt justified in his present impulsive ventureby the actions of the three men, for they seemed to be engagedin some underhand work which would not stand the light of day. So hiding himself behind a cypress stump, Hugh listened eagerly, straining his ears to catch every word. 

The men spoke in low voices so he could not hear everything, buthe heard enough to convince him that they were indeed smugglers. They were arranging to convey a cargo of dynamite from a point nearthe mouth of the little stream Sandgate on the peninsula (Florida)over to this retreat on the island. This was to be done on thefirst night when there was no moon and the wind was blowing off shore. 

"There's a guy named Durgan lives over yonder in a little clearing'bout a hundred yards up from the mouth of the creek, " said oneof the men. "Lives there all year 'round alone, fishin' an' raisin'turtles fer market. Queer ol' cuss, kind-a looney, ---but he'sfriendly to us and willin' to oblige us by showin' a light in hiscabin winder when the coast is clear. "

"You theenk dat will be next-----"

The rest of that question was lost to Hugh, because the man who hadfirst spoken muttered a warning of silence, then added something ina still lower tone. In vain Hugh tried to catch the words. Thenthe man whose accent indicated that he was either a Creole or aHaytian spoke again. 

"Eet is not alway so easy to tell when dere will be no moon, " he said. "And der wind, eet blow effery way---in one day. "

"Never mind, ---just wait, " came the answer. "One o' these nights, perhaps to-morrow, we'll-----"

Again the sentence was lost. Hugh frowned impatiently. However, as they went on talking he heard some more of their designs---inparticular, the fact that the dynamite was to be used for blowingup a railroad bridge. 

Thinking that he had heard enough by this time and knowing that ifthey discovered him he would be captured as a spy, Hugh began towonder how and when he should leave his hiding place and crawl backto camp with the least risk of being observed. At any moment themen might emerge from the hut or others of their gang might jointhem. Yet he did so want to learn where they had come from, andwhether their vessel was lying at anchor somewhere among thesemany islands! So he lay there, flat on the sand, scarcely daringto breathe lest he should be heard, heartily wishing the men wouldgive some more definite hint of their purposes, and devoutly hopingthat none of his friends, missing him from camp, would come insearch of him with shouts and calls!

"That would be fierce!" he whispered inaudibly. "That would giveme away and scare off these jail birds mighty quick!"

Suddenly the distant tchug-tchug of a gasoline motor boat came tohis ears. Raising himself on his elbows, he peered over the stump, out across the glittering blue water, and saw a good-sized dory, manned by a solitary individual who wore light oilskins, comingswiftly toward the hut on the beach. 

"That must be the motor boat that passed our camp last night, "thought Hugh. "I feel sure now, surer than ever, that I heard it goby in the darkness. But it's coming over from the mainland now. Wonder who's that man at the tiller?"

Down he sank again and waited. 

Presently the motor-dory drew up alongside the strip of beach infront of the bamboo hut and came to a standstill. The man inoilskins called out:

"Hey! You-all in thar!"

Instantly one of the three rascals came forth from the hut. 

"Hello, Durgan!" he called, not at all loudly, through his cuppedhands. "What's the news?"

"Beat it!" was Durgan's warning answer. "Thar's a campin' party onth' island below here---I seen 'em 'bout ten minutes ago---old Cap'nLem Vinton, an Injun, an' four or five boys. "

"Lem Vinton, eh? All right, Joe, we're going. Can you tow usaround Spider Key?"

"Nope. I'm goin' home now, " Joe Durgan replied tersely, with theabruptness of one who has done an irksome duty and would avoid furtherresponsibility for the present. 

Suiting actions to words, he quickened his engine and made off towardthe Florida shore. 

His boat had scarcely become a speck on the water, when Hugh beganto crawl back to the other side of the mound. Joe Durgan, who wasevidently not nearly so "looney" as represented, had warned thesmugglers of the presence of the _Arrow_ near their retreat, andHugh realized that no time should be lost if Vinton were to spreadsail and go in pursuit of them or of the _Petrel_. 

"Now's the time for me to beat it, too, " he resolved. "Whilethey're talking they won't hear me or see me, and I can hurry backto the place where I left my coat and shoes. "

When he had gone some little distance without being discovered, he fancied he was safe and rose to his feet, intending to runas fast as his legs could carry him---which was no snail's pace, indeed! Scarcely had he begun to move forward, however, when heheard a shout, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. 

Being fleet of foot and having no desire to be caught and treatedas a spy, he set off running at full speed. The ground was quiterough and he had to turn aside to avoid bushes and hollows, yet hehad no difficulty in keeping ahead of his pursuers. The veryimpediments in his way served to retard pursuit, and he did notdespair of escaping. He had to cross over a ridge, at the top ofwhich he was exposed to view. He had just reached it, when heheard some one shout:

"Stop! Come down, ---or I'll fire!"

"Fire away!" thought Hugh, knowing how unlikely it was that any onewould be so desperate as to shoot at him. "You can't stop me withthat foolish bluff!"

Ignoring the threat, he rushed down the little hill, hoping soonto find some spot where he could turn off to one side or the other, hide in shelter, and thus evade the rascals. He was surprised tofind that he had gone so far in his wanderings, that the smugglers'island was so much larger than it had seemed. For a moment he felta vague fear that he had lost his bearings and was running in thewrong direction. 

To ascertain how near his pursuers were, he threw a glance overhis shoulder. This proved fatal to his hopes, for his foot caughtin a tangle of crab-grass and down he came headlong. Over andover he rolled; and then for some seconds he lay still, a littledazed by his fall, unable to move. The next minute he found himselfin the grasp of two men. 

"Hullo, youngster! What made you try to git away from us?" askedone of them in an angry tone. He was a short, thick-set, burly man, with black eyes that seemed to glitter like a serpent's. His hugehands fastened upon Hugh's arm in a grip of steel. 

Hugh replied truthfully but not very wisely: "I'm on my way to camp, and I want to get there as soon as possible. "

"Camp, eh? Who are you?"

"I don't see what that has to do with my being in a hurry to getthere. "

"Maybe not, but we want to know where you was hidin' before you hitthe trail, " said the other man, a dark-visaged fellow with asinister cast in one eye. "Come on now! Spit it out!"

"I was just exploring this island for fun, " replied Hugh. "I washunting for---"

"You were hiding!" vehemently declared the black-eyed man. "Whereabouts?"

"On the ground, of course; there are no trees to climb around here. "

"None o' yer guff!" The swarthy captor dealt Hugh a hard thwack onthe side of his head. "What's yer business here, anyhow? Where'syer camp?"

No answer. 

"By gad, I'll make ye open up!" cried the cross-eyed knave, losinghis temper. He was about to strike Hugh again, when the other man, still holding the lad in a steel-trap grip, pushed him aside withone foot. 

"Hold off, Harry, " he commanded gruffly. "I know where his campis. He's one of Lem Vinton's crew. That's the _Arrow_ over yonder, but he ain't going back to it yet awhile. "

"Let me go!" shouted Hugh, struggling to free himself from the graspof those sinewy hands. "Let me go, I say! What---what do you wantwith me? I tell you---help! Hel-----"

The frantic shout was checked by another blow from the angry ruffian'sfist, and Hugh measured his length upon the sand. 

"Shut up, will ye?" snarled the man, thrusting a bunch of sharp-edgedgrass into Hugh's mouth. "Look here, Branks, " he added, "we can'tlet this kid blow the gaff on us to Lem Vinton. Why, the cap'nwouldn't wait ten minutes before he'd sail out to find that blamedcutter ag'in; and then we'd have him and the _Petrel_ on our trail. "

"Harry, you're right---dead right. The boy has got to come withus, until-----"

"Sure! Here, lend a hand. Tie his arms. "

With their leather belts they bound the lad's hands securely, despitehis struggles. Once, by a manful effort, he managed to break awayand run forward a few yards. But they were after him instantly, before he could get the gag out of his mouth. In the tussle thatfollowed, he kicked and writhed so vigorously that the cross-eyedcaptor howled with pain. Then, beside himself with rage, he felledHugh by a blow on the head. 

Myriads of stars reeled in the sunlight before Hugh's eyes, then thelight of day changed to pitch darkness, and Hugh sank down on thesand---a limp heap, unconscious. 

CHAPTER V

KIDNAPPED BY SMUGGLERS

When Hugh regained his senses, about half an hour later, he foundhimself lying on the bottom of a canoe, bound and gagged, staring upat the sky. The sun beat down upon him, full in his face, causinghim to close his eyes until he could just see through thelashes, ---a trick he had learned in many games played in thewoodlands. In the present instance it served him well, for thethree men who were paddling the canoe swiftly toward the mainlandbelieved that he had not yet recovered fully from the punishing theyhad given him; so, after their first glance, they paid littleattention to the captive. 

Though the threatened storm which Captain Vinton and Dave had lookedfor on the previous evening had given way to a mild and sunny day, the breeze was still brisk and the sea was choppy. The canoe bobbedup and down on the short waves, and Hugh was rolled from one side tothe other or bounced roughly with every motion of the light craft. He felt sick and sore, his head ached miserably, and though he hadhad no breakfast, the very thought of food was repugnant to him. 

On the island, he mused, his friends would have discovered hisdiscarded garments by this time, and would be calling and hallooingto him---in vain. What would they think of his prolonged absence?That he had been drowned, or attacked by sharks, or lost in aquicksand?---what on earth would they imagine had happened to him?And Billy? Poor Billy, he would be quite frantic over the strangedisappearance of his chum! The actual state of affairs would beabout the last guess to enter their minds. 

Well, it could not be helped now. He would have to bide his time andawait developments, trusting that his friends would not delay theircoming to the rescue. Meanwhile, where were these three villainstaking him against his will?

After dodging from one island or key to another, slipping along theshady shores, the canoe suddenly struck out across the wider stretchof water, beyond which lay the mainland. Presently it thrust itsnose into the soft bank of a stream, or, rather, a sluggishwater-course which made a clear channel in an ocean of wavingsaw-grass. The men shipped their paddles, stepped out, and liftedHugh to his feet; then they dragged him ashore. 

He was able now to look about him, to see where they had landed. 

A desolate spot it was, being merely an indentation in the swampycoast, a deep cove formed by two projecting arms of land whichboasted of no vegetation except the tall grass and a group ofstunted palmettos. Into this cove flowed a stream, and at a littledistance from the mouth of the stream stood three log cabins, thatched with bundles of grass. They were all that remained ofa little camp of fishermen and beach-combers, which had once shownpromise of becoming a village before it had been finally abandonedto the wilderness. 

From the stove-pipe chimney of one of these cabins, the largest, athin spiral of blue smoke rose and drifted away on the breeze. Thiswas the only sign of human occupancy. The other two dilapidatedbuildings might readily be imagined to shelter only spiders andsnakes. Toward this habitation the smugglers now led their youngcaptive, having first removed the gag from his mouth. 

"Now you can shout an' yell all you've a mind to, " said Branks, hisblack eyes twinkling with grim mirth. "Raise the roof, if you want;there won't be anybody for miles around to hear you. "

Hugh made no reply, though his quick temper was at the boiling point. He did not believe a word of the taunt; indeed, on the way overfrom the island, listening to the men's talk, he had formed theopinion that they were trying to "bluff" him, trying to impresshim with the idea that he was helpless and far away from his friends. 

The chief thing which puzzled him was:

Why had not the _Arrow_ given chase to the canoe if his friends hadcaught sight of it, as they must have done? It seemed very unlikelythat no one of his party had seen the canoe stealing out across thewater. Hugh did not know that Vinton, as soon as the canoe had beensighted, had given orders to go aboard the sloop at once, and that the_Arrow_ had promptly gone in pursuit, but such was the case. Only, bysome accident, the sloop had struck shoal water and was now stuck faston a sandbar, waiting for the tide to lift her afloat. 

Meanwhile, approaching the hut, Branks strode forward, paused, andgave a weird, low whistle. He was answered by a similar one, and thenthe cabin door was opened by a man dressed in a brown flannelhunting-shirt, corduroy trousers, and hip boots rolled down to theknees. He stood shading his eyes with both hands, as if blinded bythe sunlight on emerging from the windowless cabin. 

"That you, Harry?" he inquired. 

"No, it's me---Branks, " replied the other man. "Confound youreyesight, Joe! can't you tell an honest poor cuss from a crook?"

He laughed at this merry sally, and Joe Durgan responded with a snort. 

"Who you-all got thar?" was his next question, as the others cameup. "A kid, eh? What you-all doin' with _him_?" He blinked at Hugh, much as a sleepy owl blinks at a hunter who has discovered its nest. Then a thought crossed his mind: "O-ho! you're one o' the crowdcampin' o'er yonder!"

"Right you are, Mr. Durgan!" declared Hugh with calm politeness. "Butwhy I've been captured and brought here, I don't quite see. I wasn'tdoing any harm that I know of just prowling around the islands forthe fun of it, ---nothing more. "

"Whar your frien's?"

"Don't know, I'm sure. They'll be over here looking for me in ashort while, I guess. "

"They will, eh? Don't say so? Well, come in and make yourself tohome. "

There was something so sinister in this invitation and in the leerwhich accompanied it, that Hugh felt a qualm of misgiving. He hungback, uncertain what to say next, until cross-eyed Harry gave him apush that sent him staggering through the doorway. The four menthen entered the cabin after him, closing the door cautiously. 

Inside the hut they were in comparative darkness, the only lightcoming in between the chinks in the log walls. An opening whichhad once served as a window was now boarded across, for some unknownreason. The only furniture in the dwelling consisted of a fineold mahogany table---sadly out of place---three cheap wooden chairs, a cupboard against one wall, and a rude bunk beside it coveredwith deer-skins. From the cupboard Durgan brought forth a tallowcandle set upright on a broken saucer. Lighting this, he placedit on the table. 

"Sit o'er thar, " he said to Hugh, pointing to the bunk. 

Hugh obeyed in silence; and the men then gathered around the table, speaking in tones so low that he could scarcely distinguish the words. 

"A strange scene!" he thought, surveying the dingy interior. "Outside, broad daylight; in here, four scoundrels in candle-council, planning deeds of darkness; and I, trussed up like a calf, watchingthem because there doesn't seem to be anything else I can do. Atleast, not just now. "

He lay down on the bunk, heaving a sigh of weariness. 

Hearing the sigh, Joe Durgan glanced up. "If you'll behave likea good lad an' not try to run away, " he said, grinning, "I'lluntie your hands, and you kin be more comf'table-like. What say?"

"Thanks!" said Hugh; and when Durgan, assuming the word to be apromise of good behavior, unbound the prisoner, Hugh lay down againand feigned sleep. In his heart he was grateful to Durgan for thekindness, but he was no less resolved to take every opportunity forescaping that might arise. 

The men continued to speak in low voices, but he heard enough oftheir discussion to convince him once more that they were arrangingto meet at a spot where some sort of a cargo was to be run, the firstnight when there would be no moon and an off-shore wind. As far ashe could learn from the snatches of talk which reached his ears, thespot was to be close to this deserted settlement; before them was alittle sandy bay where boats could come ashore, even should there bea heavy sea running outside. 

It was further decided that Joe Durgan would show a light in a windowof one of the smaller cabins if the coast was clear. 

In order to draw off the revenue cutter men from the spot, theyproposed also to set afire two small hay ricks which stood near. By so doing, they hoped that the crew of the _Petrel_ would try toextinguish the flames, so as to prevent the fire spreading inland toan extensive grove of valuable cypress trees. As this was sure to beno easy work, the smugglers calculated to run the cargo and carry thegoods into the cellar of the cabin. 

"Didn't know this hang-out had a cellar, " said Branks. "Why don'twe-----"

"Shut up!" interrupted the cross-eyed man, holding up a grimy fingerwhich he pointed at Hugh. "Did you say cigar, Branks?" he addedcraftily in a louder tone, so that Hugh might hear. 

"No, I said cel-----"

"I won't sell one, but I'll give you one, " again interposed the other. "Here, take it!" And he added under his breath with an ugly oath, "You double-dyed fool!"

Hugh lay still, breathing deeply and heartily wishing the men wouldgo away. He began to fear they would spend the day there in hiding. Presently, however, they rose from the table and went out, closingand locking the door behind them. He was a prisoner! He sprang upand rushed over to the door. 

"Let me out!" he cried, beating on it with clenched fists. "Youcrooks'll have to pay for this when you're caught!"

A loud laugh was the only answer. 

CHAPTER VI

THE PLIGHT OF THE "_ARROW_"

Hours later, when the _Arrow_ was finally clear of the bar, sheveered around and made down the coast, passing the little bay wherethe canoe had landed. So occupied with the distressing problem ofHugh's disappearance had her crew been, ---for not one of the partycould believe him drowned, ---and so busy in trying to keep the sloopfrom being pounded to pieces by the waves while stranded, that no oneaboard had noticed the canoe on its return trip across the strait. 

When sailing order had been restored and Captain Vinton had ceasedto rage and swear at the mischance, his one idea was to return tothe waters where he knew the _Petrel_ was cruising. Strange to say, he was the only one who guessed that Hugh had fallen into the handsof "coast-prowlers" as he called them, ---with adjectives too lurid tomention!---and was, being held captive lest he betray their plans. With this idea in mind, he was determined to bring the revenue cutterto Hugh's rescue; he knew the _Petrel_ could cope with the situation. 

By an unlooked-for stroke of fortune, he had not gone very far downthe coast before he sighted the cutter, and soon he brought the_Arrow_ within hailing distance. He communicated the news to theofficers on board, and a sort of council of war took placeimmediately. Together, they were not long in forming a plan ofreprisal. 

It was decided that they should proceed forthwith to a small fortressa few miles southward, where a squad of regulars was stationed. Theplace was called Fort Leigh, but it scarcely deserved the name, beingin reality only a temporary camp located on the site of an oldfortification which had been a military headquarters during theSeminole wars. Its nearness to the vicinity in which, according tothe _Petrel's_ reliable information, the smugglers were operating wasthe reason why all decided to go there for assistance. 

Lieutenant Driscoll was in command at the fort and he could be countedon to bring the smugglers to terms. 

"Why, it's the most high-handed piece of knavery I've heard of formany a long day!" he exclaimed when the information formation wasbrought to him by Vinton and the others. "Those scoundrels must havetheir nerve, all right, to kidnap a young fellow merely because theydidn't want him to tell tales!"

"It's an outrage!" agreed Norton emphatically. "But we've got to getbusy right away, Lieutenant. What are we going to do about it?"

"You're right. We must lose no time, " replied Driscoll directly. "We'll set out this very hour and invade the haunts of gang. They'renot many miles from here, I'm told, hiding in the Everglades. Comewith me; I'll have my men ready in half an hour. 

"You boys'll go along, of course, " he added. "If we have to pitchcamp for a night or two, while we're hunting them, we'll need youfor signalers or scouts, or for picket duty. "

"Picket duty?" echoed Chester. 

"Yes, both in camp and along the line of march. I presume you allare willing to serve?"

"Yes, sir; we certainly are!" came the eager chorus. Then, abashedat their lack of military formality, the speakers saluted in moresoldierly fashion and stood at attention, awaiting orders. 

These were soon given, and after a hurried preparation the wholeparty---with the exception of three privates who remained at thefort---sallied forth against "Bego's gang. " It was decided not to goon board the _Petrel_ for the few miles' trip back along the coast, but to use the _Arrow_, instead; for the latter would not be soeasily recognized by the smugglers. 

"No doubt they'll have pickets posted at different points nearDurgan's settlement, if, as we suspect, they have a rendezvousthere, " said Lieutenant Driscoll. "But we'll camp tonight onPalmetto Key, cross over to the shore the first thing to-morrowmorning-----"

"Before daylight?"

"Of course; and then we'll land on 'em, hot-and-heavy. I count ontheir trying to ship a cargo to-morrow night, when there'll be nomoon. "

"I understand, " said Norton. "Will you permit me to make a suggestion, Lieutenant Driscoll?"

"By all means, my dear sir. What is it?"

"Well, the fact that you mentioned their pickets gave me an idea thatit would be well if you sent some of us, ---say these scouts and myself, for instance, ---over to the mainland to-night to act as pickets foryou fellows encamped on Palmetto Key. "

"An excellent idea! But how do you propose to communicate with us, in case there should be anything doing to-night?"

"By means of bonfires on the shore, or by wig-wagging with torches. "

"I thought you would say that!" exclaimed the lieutenant heartily. 

"You mean---you don't approve of that part of the plan?"

Lieutenant Driscoll laughed. 

"Oh, not at all! That is, I meant only that I was pleased to discovera civilian who knows anything about signaling. "

Amused at the lieutenant's patronizing comment, Norton merely smiledin his good-natured way, though he would fain have answered moresharply. Alec and Billy glanced at him and then at each other, andAlec whispered:

"I guess the lieutenant doesn't know that Boy Scouts are expected tobe pretty efficient signalers, does he, Bill?"

To which Billy responded with a snort:

"What he doesn't know would fill a book!"

Fortunately these remarks were not heard by anyone but Dave, for thelieutenant and Norton were arranging a system of signals to be usedin case of necessity. Meanwhile, with Vinton at the helm, and themen of Driscoll's company crowded on the deck of the sloop talkingwith the other scouts, the trim little _Arrow_ was making good speedover the blue water. Billy and Alec walked restlessly up and downthe deck, their minds busy with thoughts of Hugh, for whom they feltno little anxiety. 

"Wonder what he's doing now?" said Alec. 

"I'd give anything to know for sure that he's alive and safe!" wasBilly's rueful rejoinder. "I've heard all sorts of stories aboutwhat rough-necks like those smugglers do to any one that butts in ontheir game!"

"You don't believe they'd kill him?"

"No-o, hardly that. But they might----"

"The worst of it is, " interrupted Alec, "we don't even know that he'salive. He might have been drowned or-----"

"I won't believe that, Alec! I can't believe it!"

"But you said just now-----"

"I don't know what I said or what I meant!"

"Calm down, Billy, old scout! You're all upset. "

"Who wouldn't be, I'd like to know?"

"I don't blame you, " said Alec in genuine sympathy. "We all are, youknow; but we've got to keep our heads, and we mustn't despair. "

"Yes, you're right, Alec. "

There was a brief silence, while the two friends stood by the railwatching the low-lying shore slip past them as the _Arrow_ flewonward. Then Billy spoke again, and his voice was steadier. 

"We're going to find Hugh and get him out of danger, " he said quietly, "so let's get ready to do our level best. "

"I'm with you, Bill! That's the stuff. That's the way to feel! Why, it helps a lot not to lose hope at the start! Come on, let's find outwhat we're going to do first. "

Mark Anderson came over to them just then, tugging at his cap to keepit from being blown away. 

"We're almost at Palmetto Key now, " he said. "Whew! I'll be glad whenwe're off this boat on dry land, ---and _doing_ something! Thiscruising-around-while-you-wait gets my nerve! I've had about enoughof the salt water, anyway. When we get Hugh back, me for the choo-choocars home to Santario!"

It was a natural impatience, and some of the boys shared it for thetime being. They might change their minds later, they agreed, but atpresent most of them were of Dave's opinion of the cruise---"Heapmuch trouble, not much fun. " However, the prospect of excitement anda possible encounter with smugglers on the outskirts of the Everglades, cheered them considerably. 

Gliding through the channels between islands and keys, and keepingout of sight of watchers on the mainland as far as possible, the_Arrow_ finally cast anchor off Palmetto Key nearly opposite Durgan'scove, and the boat made two trips ashore with Norton and the boys. Dave went with them, of course, for he was thoroughly familiar withthat section of the coast. Each was armed with a revolver and a beltof cartridges, but orders were given that there should be no shootingexcept in self-defense or as a last desperate resort to make "the gang"deliver up their prisoner. 

They landed on a little grass-covered peninsula about a hundred yardsfrom the cove, and immediately began to look around them for goodstation points to observe the movements of "the enemy. " The ground inthat locality was somewhat higher than the surrounding expanses, andtherefore less swampy; but there were numerous little zigzag ditches orwatercourses in which the tide rose until it overflowed the banks. 

"We'd better not linger here, " said Norton. 

"When the tide comes in, this little point of land will be under water. "

"No, no, " said Dave, shaking his head. "Safe here---see!" He pointedto the dry grass blades on which were no traces of brine. "You stayhere. Me and Billy go get canoe. "

"Canoe? Where can you get one?"

Again Dave pointed, this time to a group of three ramshackle cabinsjust visible through the bushes. In one of those cabins Hugh waseven then a prisoner. Had Dave or Billy known this, they would nothave hesitated to swim to the place, if need be to say nothing of thedifficulty of going there and "borrowing" a canoe, in which they allcould approach the smugglers' headquarters. 

Dave explained that the cabins on the cove were called "Durgan'ssettlement, " and that the place bore a bad reputation. He added thatto his certain knowledge the revenue men had intended for some timepast to raid the place, and that they had waited only for more proofthat the smugglers foregathered there. 

Having assured the others that he and Billy would soon return withsome kind of a canoe or boat, Dave set forth, accompanied by Hugh'schum. The others, separating, took up their positions where theywere concealed by the long grass, but where they had a good view ofthe islands and straits, the cove, and the three cabins. 

They were now pickets on duty. 

CHAPTER VII

A GATHERING OF THE CLAN

"If there are any of the gang around here, where on earth are they?"

The question came in a whisper from Billy, as he and the Seminolepursued their way cautiously along the edge of a watercourse, in thedirection of the cabins. Bending forward, sometimes crawling onhands and knees, they advanced---an inch at every step, it seemed toimpatient Billy. 

"Do you think they're hiding near here?" he asked, and Dave shook histurbaned head. 

"Gone 'way, " was his answer. "Boat come back to-night, mebbe so. "

"Boat? What boat?"

"_Esperanza_. "

"Oh! Then you think they'll try to leave this part of the coast soon?"

"Dunno. Wait. We see, we tell _Petrel_. "

There was nothing else to do, so Billy curbed his eagerness to learnthe present whereabouts of the smugglers and crawled forward insilence. Once he drew back with a gasp of horror as a large moccasinsnake darted across his path; but seeing the loathsome creature glideaway to a safe distance, he went on, following the guide. Nevertheless, a chill ran down his spine when he thought how narrowlyhe had escaped stumbling full tilt upon the reptile, which, unlike therattlesnake, never gives warning of its presence. 

When they had traversed the stretch of marsh between the peninsulaand the cove, alternately walking on soft springy ground above a bedof coralline limestone and wading knee-deep along the watercourse, they emerged upon the left bank of the cove. The two smaller cabinswere not more than twenty paces distant, and between them was a plankbridge rudely built in the form of a trestle. Dave and Billyapproached this bridge. 

Suddenly they stopped short and crouched in the high grass. Plainlyto their ears came the shrill barking of a dog. 

Dave expressed his feelings in one round oath, which, being utteredin his native dialect, sounded to Billy "Like gargling the throat. "

It needed no expletives to inform Billy that the dog's appearance onthe scene of action was certain to cause trouble. 

"Ketch um dog, choke um!" said Dave, looking about him to see if thebarking had brought anyone to the place. 

"Where is the cur?" Billy asked. 

"Don't see um, " replied the Seminole. He straightened up until hishead was above the top of the grass. "A-ah!" he exclaimed in aguttural tone. "Man in sailboat yonder. "

Impulsively Billy scrambled to a kneeling position, and his gazefollowed Dave's. The two spies then beheld the figure of a manseated in the stern of a dug-out canoe that carried a mast andsail and was coming around the bend of a stream. 

"If he sees us-----" began Billy. 

"S-s-sh!" Dave interrupted warningly. "Wait, see where he go. "

"Is the dog barking at us or at him? What d'you think, Dave?"

"At us, " was the answer. "Man come, let dog loose, ---we bettergo back! Incah!"

"No, " said Billy firmly. "Dog or no dog, I'm not going back tillI've found out where they've hidden Hugh!"

If Billy had only known that Hugh was locked in that further cabin!If Hugh had only been able to communicate with his friends onpicket duty! How much trouble would have been avoided, ---yet whatan adventure they would have missed!

Dave now explained to Billy that his purpose had been to purlointhe sailing canoe, so that the smugglers on shore would be dependenton a boat from the _Esperanza_ to take them and their goods away. This would enable the crew of the _Petrel_ to intercept the smugglersas soon as they landed. But now, with the appearance of this man inthe canoe, Dave's plan seemed about to be thwarted. 

* * * * * *

Meanwhile, what of the others who remained on the peninsula?

More than an hour passed before any one saw a suspicious figure onthe landscape. Then Alec, whose post was farthest removed from thelanding place, suddenly caught sight of two men walking along theshore. They were carrying the same battered tin box which he andBilly had found half buried in the sand, many hours ago. Evidentlythe box was heavy, for they appeared to stagger with its weight. 

Alec raised his voice in the weird, low call of the otter. As hispatrol was named after that animal, he knew that Chester, also ofthe Otter patrol, would recognize the signal. In this case it meant"Danger. Look around you. "

From a distance, hidden behind a clump of palmettos, Chet respondedwith the same call twice, in quick succession. 

But the men carrying the box heard the calls. They knew it was stilltoo early in the afternoon for otters to be hunting so noisily, andthey were surprised, startled, suspicious. To Alec's dismay, theydropped the box, stood still, and stared all around them. Alec layflat on the ground, trusting that his khaki suit and brown flannelshirt would help him to escape observation. At the same time hedread lest one of the other pickets would be seen too soon. 

The two men, after gazing out to sea as if expecting to sight avessel on the horizon, picked up the box and came on again. Everystep brought them nearer Alec, who of course had been told to allowall strangers to pass unchallenged---until to-morrow. 

"Hark!" said one of the men, listening. "That's Rover barking!"

"He barks at nothing!" declared the other. "Eet is a fool dawg, zatRover! I know heem, yes. "

"You haven't as much sense as that 'fool dawg, ' Max!" retorted thefirst speaker, who was none other than the swarthy ruffian, HarryMole. "Somethin's going on over there at the settlement or the dogwouldn't bark. Come on, hurry; Branks may need us. "

So saying, he and his companion passed by, and Alec, who had heardevery word, breathed a sigh of relief. He wished the two men werenot going in the same direction Dave and Billy had taken; but hefelt sure that the latter could give a good account of themselvesif discovered in hiding. 

"But that would upset the whole scheme, " he reflected. "Perhaps I'dbetter sneak around, ahead of those two rascals, and warn Dave andBilly to lie low? Or shall I---no, I've been stationed here, andit's up to me to stick to this post. "

As he watched the two men stumbling on over the uneven ground, hewondered with a little thrill of apprehension whether they would runacross any of the other pickets, or even meet Billy and Dave returningfrom their quest. 

However, no such undesired event came to pass, and the two smugglersfinally disappeared behind a row of trees covered with vines. 

After that, the watchful young pickets waited in silence, with only alow-spoken word now and then as they paced back and forth under coverto emphasize the stillness. An hour passed, ---another hour, ---the sunbegan its slow descent into the broad bosom of the ocean. Long beforethis, the _Arrow_ had slipped away a little farther up along the coast, so that she would be out of sight behind one of the numerous islandsin case the _Esperanza_ drew near Durgan's cove. 

Once the dog's barking sounded louder, and nearer, but after a minuteor two it ceased, and silence reigned over all. 

"What's become of Dave and Billy?" wondered Chester. 

The same question was troubling the minds of Roy Norton and MarkAnderson, in their respective station-points; but there seemed to beno answer to it at present. 

Twilight crept upon them apace, then deepened into the shadows ofnight. As they had arranged, they left their posts and assembled atthe place chosen for their landing. After hours of more-or-lesssolitary watching, it seemed good to be together in council, to eattheir simple supper, and to compare notes. 

In the midst of their evening meal, the faint purring of a motorboat'sengine reached their ears, and after a few minutes a boat with twofigures in it was seen approaching them, gliding almost noiselesslyalong one of the waterways. The occupants of the boat were BillyWorth and Dave. Reaching the place, they stopped the engine, ran theboat's nose into the soft bank, and sprang ashore. 

"Where---how----did you get it?" asked Norton in surprise. 

"The boat? Oh, we just borrowed it from Joe Durgan and his friends!"Billy declared. "We saw the boat tied to a little trestle over thereat the deserted settlement, and when we saw Durgan and two other mengo into one of the cabins, we sneaked up quickly and took the boatfrom them without asking permission and got away with it!"

"Didn't they see you, or hear the engine?"

"No, " answered Billy. 

"That's strange! Are you sure?"

"There were no windows in the cabin, that we could see, " explainedBilly, "and when they got inside, they made a lot of noise. "

"Gee! won't they be wild when they find their boat gone!" said Mark. 

"They may think it slipped its moorings and drifted away on the tide. At least, that's what Dave says. "

The Seminole grinned. "Anyhow, they look for boat soon, " he said. "Something doin' tonight, you bet!"

Alec had risen and was standing erect, his face turned toward the ocean. 

"What are you staring at?" queried chester. "See any stars?"

"There's just one, " replied young Sands, pointing southwest. "Mightylow down---there! Now it's out. "

"No, it isn't. I see it!"

"So do I!" exclaimed Billy and Norton. 

"There it is again!"

"What a queer star!"

"Perhaps it's a lighthouse. Captain Vinton said that there is onesomewhere near this locality. "

The sky was cloudy; there was no moon. Overhead, a few large starsglittered brilliantly, but the seeming star at which they were gazingwas unlike any of those celestial lights. It steadily grew larger, yellower. Finally two lower gleams appeared, and then all threevanished, as if they had been snuffed out. 

"What is it?" asked Norton, turning to Dave. 

But the Seminole guide apparently did not hear the question. He wasstaring in the direction of the three cabins, whence arose in themurky darkness a shower of sparks, then one---two----three shootinggreen stars. 

"Look!" he exclaimed hoarsely. 

"By Jove! a Roman candle!" ejaculated Norton. "It's a signal!"

"No star out to sea, " Dave said. "No star, but um boat. "

"Boat? You mean-----"

"_Esperanza_! She come here to-night. "

CHAPTER VIII

THE BLAZING BEACON

Had it been daylight, the boy scouts on picket duty would have seenthe same long, low, gray craft something like a built-for-speed tugboat, which had surprised Captain Vinton when it first appeared amongthe Keys, now coming to anchor outside Durgan's Cove, in the darkness. 

As it was, however, they could see nothing after the _Esperanza's_lights went out; but, waiting impatiently, they presently heard thedip of oars, the faint rattle and squeaking of row-locks, and thena low whistle which seemed to come out of the quiet that brooded overthe ocean. 

"It's a boat from the _Esperanza_!" muttered Norton. "One of us hadbetter steal back to the camp, and see what our friends are doing. Dave, you-----"

"Oh, let me go!" interposed Alec. "I can run the motor boat overto our camp and bring the soldiers here in about twenty minutes---orless. "

"My dear boy, those fellows out there who are coming ashore wouldbe sure to hear a motor boat, " declared Norton. "Even with amuffler on, the sound would reach them. "

"But it's the only boat we have, . Sir, " said Mark, "and, whenall's said, that's why Billy and Dave took it---to bring the menover sooner than they could tramp across these flats. "

"You're right, Mark; but-----"

Again he was interrupted by one of his eager young friends---Chester, this time. 

"Perhaps Dave could pole the motor boat over, " he suggested. 

"Could you, Dave? It's not a large boat by any means. "

"Uh-huh, sure!" assented the guide. "But slow work---lose heaptime. "

"No matter. Anyway, we've got to give those fellows time to land andto get to the cabins before we surround them. Go ahead, Dave; andAlec, you go with him to run the boat back. I guess you know moreabout a gasoline engine than any of us. Hurry now---and good luck!"

The intrepid young scout needed no urging. Before Dave had found asuitable pole, Alec had taken his place at the stern and was pointingher in the direction of the peninsula on which Lieutenant Driscolland his men were waiting. 

In a few minutes Dave was pushing the light but substantial launchalong the waterway, and almost immediately it disappeared from sight, swallowed up in the darkness. 

It returned in about half an hour, crowded to the gunwales, carryingthe dozen men. In the meantime, a rather startling incident hadoccurred. 

Dave and Alec had been gone only ten minutes or so, when the assembledpickets observed a bright light burst forth from the surroundinggloom and rapidly increase until it assumed the proportions of alarge bonfire. 

The outlaws were carrying out the first part of their plan, which wasto attract the revenue men away from the vicinity of the cabins whilethey effected a loading of their munitions or other contraband goodsupon the _Esperanza's_ boat. They counted on the probability that therevenue men would hasten to put out the fire on the coast---which wasquite a little distance from the cabins---and would be unaware ofother operations at the same time. 

But in this scheme they reckoned without their pursuers; for the crewof the _Petrel_---even now hurrying to the scene of action---hadreceived information of this very ruse, and had decided to ignore itand to make directly for Durgan's Cove. 

Not knowing that the _Arrow_ was lying near, or that the dozen menfrom the fort, with the scout pickets, were already on the scene, those energetic seamen of the _Petrel_ were bending every effort toreach the smugglers' headquarters on time. 

Captain Bego, of the _Esperanza_, however, knew that the _Petrel_was on his trail, and he was all the more anxious to make "a getawaywith the goods. "

The bonfire, instead of dying down at last, seemed to rise higherand higher, casting a lurid glow over the marshes and streams, andeven upon the dark waters of the ocean. Made of driftwood, bundlesof dried saw-grass and withered cypress boughs---industriously piledon by Max, the half-breed, who had been sent there for that verypurpose---it blazed merrily, and a shower of sparks swirled around it, veering toward the cabins. To all appearances, the three cabinsseemed doomed to take fire; in which case nothing could save them ortheir contents. 

The soldiers from the fort and Dave had disappeared into the darknessof the deeper shadows. 

Eager to see the fire and to find out what was going on in thatvicinity, Billy, Alec, and Roy Norton crept forth from their hidingplace and approached the glowing beacon. 

For the most part, they followed the bank of a creek or inlet which, like all its fellows, wound and zig-zagged through the springy turfof the marsh. This particular waterway reflected the glow of thebonfire more brightly than the others, from which fact they deducedthat it would be the most direct path. 

On getting nearer, the hum of human voices showed them that a numberof men had assembled, some of whom were engaged in throwing waterover the blaze, others in patrolling the beach. Evidently thebonfire was burning too high and casting too much light to suit theirpurposes. 

"Who are they?" queried Alec in a whisper. 

"I don't know, " answered Norton as quietly. 

"Look!" Billy exclaimed softly. "There are three mulattoes in thatbunch over by the dune. And see that tall, skinny, dark man withthe oilskin coat over his left arm? That must be Captain Bego. "

"He certainly looks like Vinton's descriptions, " Norton observed. 

"And he's giving orders as if he-----"

"Hark! What's that noise?"

Breathlessly they waited and listened. 

After another full minute they again heard the sound---a low rumbling, like distant thunder. 

"Gee! it sounds dangerous, " said Billy. 

"I wish we knew what it was. "

"I can make a pretty good guess, " Norton added, still whispering. "It's a-----"

In the middle of his sentence he was interrupted by a shout from oneof the mulattos. 

"Boat! Boat comin'!" cried the man, running toward the others, who bythis time had almost extinguished the bonfire. His announcement wasdistinctly heard by the three hidden scouts. 

"Wonder if he has seen our captured launch or a boat out at sea?"said Alec. 

"Boys, he means---the _Petrel_!"

"Oh!" the other two exclaimed dubiously. 

"How do you know?" demanded Billy. "How can you tell?"

"It's just a guess on my part, " Norton admitted readily; "but beforewe came ashore today, Vinton told me that he wouldn't be at allsurprised if the _Petrel_ came cruising back this way by evening;and so, when that fellow came running up with the news, my firstthought was that the _Petrel_ was not far off. "

"But where are the soldiers all this while?" asked Alec. "Why haven'tthey followed us here?"

"They may have gone to the cabins, instead, " replied Norton. 

"Perhaps Dave has guided them to the bonfire by another way, andthey're just waiting to make an attack when that fire-raising gangstart toward the cabins. "

"I guess you're right, Billy. Come on, let's get nearer. "

With one accord, the three moved forward. 

CHAPTER IX

DEEDS OF DARKNESS

As yet, neither the soldiers nor the revenue men had appeared on thescene. In spite of his shrewd guess, Norton began to believe thatthe smugglers, having come to the conclusion that their bonfire wasnot necessary, after all---because they fondly imagined the _Petrel_was far away down the coast---would waste no more time trying toattract the cutter to that spot, but would proceed boldly, undercover of darkness, to run their goods from the cabins to the _Esperanza_. 

Such seemed to be Bego's decision, also; for as Roy, Billy, andAlec drew nearer, they heard the swarthy leader directing mostof his men to "shoulder arms and march over to Durgan's headquarters. "

Presently the group near the bonfire was diminished by the departureof eight or nine men, who picked their way gingerly over the unevenground, muttering directions to one another as they went Billy couldhardly restrain his impulse to follow them. 

At one time they passed so close to the ambushed pickets that thelatter could distinguish the words "after midnight" and "set theboy loose. "

"They're talking about Hugh, " said Billy to himself, and his heartbeat fast with excitement. The words gave him assurance that hischum was alive, which was some comfort. 

"I think I'll just have to follow them, " he mused a few momentslater; and telling Norton and Alec that he would be back very soon, he slipped away, trailing Bego's men, before Norton could preventhim from going. 

It would have been better for Billy had he remained in hiding; but hewas eager to know how Durgan and his confederates would manage to runtheir cargo on board the _Esperanza_, having no motor boat to use;and he was even more eager to find out what had become of Hugh. 

Without stopping longer, therefore, in the neighborhood of thebonfire, he hurried away toward the spot at which he had heard themen propose to run the cargo. 

He must have crept onward for ten minutes or so, when he head apistol fired. 

The shot was followed by two or three others in quick succession. 

This made him more than ever eager to find out what was happening. He doubled his speed. Fortunately, by mere chance, he had stumbledupon the very stretch of ground which he and Dave had traversedearlier in the day; the trail was fairly good, and he knew just howto proceed. 

All this while he had not seen a single person, and he had not beenseen by any of the smugglers. 

After a few minutes he heard more shots sounding much nearer, thenshouts and hoarse yells, mingled with the sharp staccato of pistolsand rifles. He felt sure that by this time the soldiers underLieutenant Driscoll had come up and were having a lively fight withthe outlaws, the latter trying to defend their property, and theformer to confiscate it. 

At any moment he expected to find that the men whom he was followingwere returning to the beach to join their comrades; but evidentlythey had received strict orders to go straight to the cabins, forthey went on, and he followed them. Now he availed himself of allthe knowledge of stalking and trailing which he had gained inscoutcraft games at Pioneer Camp. 

Which party, the soldiers or the smugglers, would succeed in theirobject seemed doubtful. The darkness was intense, and though Billypictured the whole scene, as yet he could not see anything except anoccasional spurt of flame as a revolver or rifle spat viciously. Even the forms of the men he was following had disappeared from view. This did not discourage him, for he was used to following a trail inthe dark. 

Still he stumbled onward, forgetting that bullets flying about wereno respecters of persons. 

At last he reached the top of a low mound whence he could see dimlya number of dark figures scurrying hither and thither. From theiractions and from the babel of shouts, commands, oaths and shootingthat came from the little clearing around the huts, he judged thatthey were engaged in a determined struggle. 

That the soldiers were having the best of it, he had no doubt. Itappeared to him that they had captured not only part of the intendedcargo but also some of Bego's men; while others, bolder villains, seemed to be trying to rescue their comrades. 

In his rejoicing over this turn of affairs, he gave a yell oftriumph---and just at that moment a bullet whizzed over his shoulder, almost searing his neck! The yell quavered on his lips, and hedropped down on his knees, which were trembling and knocking together. 

"Whew! that came pretty close to yours truly!" said Billy, speakingaloud as if he expected some one to hear him. "That's what might becalled being 'under fire, ' and I don't like the sensation---not by along shot!"

Even in moments of danger or of distress, Billy managed to see thefunny side of circumstances. He grinned now at his little joke, butall the while he was intently scanning the scene before him andwondering if he would be drawn into taking part in it. Also, he wasanxious to know where his friends were at that moment. Would theyjoin in the fray?

Suddenly his eager gaze was shifted to a new quarter. He stared, wide-eyed and breathless. 

Out of the night, running like mad along the shore and across theacres of sand and clay and mud, came a body of men armed with rifles. They were making directly toward the scene of conflict as fast asthey could find their difficult way. 

"Who are they? Where have they come from?" Billy wondered. 

And then, like a flash, he understood. "Oh!" he gasped. "Oh, I know, I know now! They're the men from the _Petrel_! Marines, Iguess---if that's what you call 'em. "

It was true; the new arrivals were the Revenue Service men, and asit chanced, they had come just in the nick of time. For Joe Durgan, Branks, Harry Mole, Max, the villainous half-breed, and others at thehuts, were being reinforced by Bego's followers who had hurried upfrom the bonfire; and they were beating back the soldiers, whom theynow outnumbered. 

Suddenly Billy heard another yell, a wild, eerie, shrill call, andDave, leading Norton and the Boy Scouts, sprang from their boatwhich had crept up to the farther side of the clearing, and dashedforward to meet the crew of the _Petrel_. 

Recognizing them even in the darkness---which now began to be relievedby stray gleams of moonlight struggling out of the clouds---therevenue men turned to the left under Dave's guidance, and took ashort-cut, coming up in the rear of the battle. 

Alone on the little mound, Billy realized that he was separated fromhis reunited scout friends and their allies by a small mob ofdesperately fighting men. He was cut off from the rest by reasonof Dave's having steered the boat along a watercourse of which he, Billy, knew nothing; in fact, he had lost his bearings and knew notin which direction the improvised camp lay. 

However, the conflict before him absorbed his thoughts and left himno time to worry about his own predicament. He was still wonderinghow the revenue men had happened to arrive at a critical time. 

The explanation was as follows:

Unknown to Billy or to any of his friends, the _Petrel_ had steamedfull speed to Palmetto Key; and Captain Vinton, sighting the cutterfrom the deck of the concealed _Arrow_, had signaled to her captain, telling him just where to land his men. This accounted for theirunexpected arrival, which soon turned the tide of battle in theirfavor. 

Creeping forward, Billy saw the smugglers fleeing in all directions, after setting fire to the two smaller cabins. As they ran, theyexchanged shots with the soldiers and the revenue men; but, owingto the gloom, these shots failed to take much effect, beyond slightlywounding their captors. Fired on in turn, they ran toward the beach, past their smouldering bonfire, near which their boat was drawn upon the sands waiting to take them back to the _Esperanza_. 

The light of the blazing huts now illumined the scene, and in theglow, Norton caught sight of Billy running toward them. He hailedthe lad with a shout:

"Hi! Hurry up, Billy! Where have you been all this time?"

"Watching the fight!" shouted Billy, whose voice sounded doleful. "Wishing I could butt into it earlier! Come on, come on! We'rechasing 'em!"

"Hold on!" Norton exclaimed loudly. "We've had about enough of this. Here we'll stay, my boy, and let our better-armed friends capturethe gang. When they get to their boat it will be a case of 'firstcome, first served' to get away. Most of them'll be caught andcaptured. Meanwhile, it's up to us to find Hugh. He must be inthat largest shanty there, unless-----"

"Come on!" yelled Billy, seeing his brother scouts already commencingthe search. 

He dashed over to the remaining shanty and flung himself againstthe door. 

"Hugh, Hugh!" he called. "Are you in there?"

No answer---only the roaring and crackling of the flames as theydevoured the old walls and crumbling roof of the nearby abandoneddwellings. 

"Hugh!" shouted Alec and Chester, banging on the door, while Markran around the cabin, looking in vain for a window or other meansof entrance. 

The door gave way and the three scouts rushed in, followed by Norton. 

Dave stood in the doorway, his lanky form with the red glare of thefire behind it casting a grotesque shadow on the interior wall ofthe cabin. He remained there on guard, lest any of the smugglersshould return. 

Alec struck a match. Its sputtering flame lighted the single room, dispelling the shadows for a brief moment. Anxiously they allpeered around the dingy shanty. 

"Hugh, where are you?" said Billy in a hoarse whisper. "Are youhere? Can't you speak?"

Still no answer. 

Then Alec's match went out. 

"Have you another match?" asked Norton. 

Like Billy's, his voice was husky. A vague dread seemed to seizehim, weighing down upon him like a tangible thing. 

"Yes, " said Alec. "Here's one more---the last. "

Again he struck a light and a hasty search was made. Every momentwas precious. 

In vain. The cabin was empty. 

CHAPTER X

THE END OF THE RAID

At the beginning of the fight, Hugh wakened from a troubled sleep intowhich he had fallen, wearied with fruitless efforts to break the lockof the door. One thought was ever in his mind, even in his dream:to escape. For this purpose he had clawed away a wide chink in thelog walls, he had even dug under the threshold---without avail. 

Nevertheless, he was glad to be active and thankful that he had beenunbound before his captors went away, leaving him a prisoner in theshanty until they were ready to release him. Joe Durgan had evenbeen considerate enough to leave a half loaf of bread and a glassof beer on the table; but Hugh declined these delicacies. 

All during the fight he crouched by the locked door, listening inalternate hope and dread of the outcome, now and then raising hisvoice amid the din and confusion outside. It was perhaps notstrange that none of his friends heard him, for his shouts onlymingled with those of the smugglers and were lost in the generalclamor. 

But they were heard by one man, who, though not exactly a friend, was yet an amiable enemy. 

In the midst of the conflict, when the Revenue Service men hadarrived to turn the tide of fortune, the door was quickly openedand shut, and a man stood in the room, panting hard. 

Hugh sprang to his feet, ready for any new emergency. 

"What are you-all doin' thar, youngster?" said a voice in thedarkness, a deep voice which Hugh recognized as Durgan's. 

"Trying to get out, of course, " he replied defiantly, every nervein his young body tingling with excitement. "What did you expectme to do, Durgan?"

"Eh? Oh, nothin'. Thought you might ha' gone to sleep like a goodlittle boy. "

The man's harsh laugh sounded hollow and unpleasant. Hugh shuddered. 

"I was asleep, " he said, "but when----"

"Real unkind o' your friends to wake you up, eh?" interrupted Durgan. His hand stole behind him. With a quick turn he opened the door, and admitted some one. "Come in, Harry, " he said. "The kid's here, all right. What did I tell you?"

"That so?" growled Harry Mole. "Well, we know who he is now. Somebody tipped off the officers about the run we was goin' tomake to-night; and since it wasn't this kid, it must-a been one ofhis bunch. Shall we heave him into the stream, Joe, or leavehim here?"

"Not on your life!" Durgan replied promptly. "He's caught on to toomuch about us while he's been here, and he can tell those ginks alot that we don't want 'em to know. So's long as we kin get out o'here alive, we'd better take him along. "

"He spoiled our plans to-night. He deserves to be knocked on thehead an' thrown out to the 'gators!"

"Spoilt our plans, you bet! But he'll get his, by-and-by. Come, take him and hustle away. Cripes! hear them bullets smashin' intothe wall!"

"Remember, kid, " said Mole, "if you shout or let out a word, we'llstick a knife between yer slats. "

From the fierce way in which Mole uttered this threat, Hugh did notdoubt he would do as he said. However, he did not yield withouta silent struggle, though he was soon overpowered by the two burlyruffians. Each taking him by an arm, they led him outside anddragged him over a stretch of bumpy ground, stumbling along in thesemi-darkness. 

Scarcely five minutes after they left the hut and the two burningshanties behind them, Hugh's friends burst into the empty cabin---toolate to rescue him. 

But these young, well-trained scouts lost no time in searching theplace. Separating into pairs---Norton and Mark, Alec and Chester, with Billy and Dave in advance, following Durgan's and Mole'strail---they formed a line of communication between the cabin andthe site of the bonfire, hoping that by thus keeping a picket linethey might catch sight of Hugh or his captors beating a hastyretreat toward the shore. 

Meanwhile, Durgan and Mole with Hugh between them walked very fastindeed. Had they not supported Hugh, he should have fallen severaltimes; for, young and strong as he was, he was almost worn out withthe rough treatment he had undergone. Every minute he thought theywould stop, and, making an end of their senseless threats, releasehim and run. But they evidently had no intention of doing so. 

Hugh tried to ascertain in what direction they were leading him, but he soon gave this up as useless. He was on the verge of despair, when suddenly out of the gloom came a startlingly familiar call---thecall of the Wolf patrol. 

"_Wow-ow-ooo-oooo-hoo-Hugh!_"

It sounded not far away, on his left, and the lad's heart boundedwith joy. He knew that that call could come from none other thanBilly Worth, and Billy must therefore be near at hand, ready to leadhis comrades to Hugh's rescue. 

For one wild moment he was tempted to answer the call---then discretionprevailed, and he kept silence. 

Naturally, the two men also were startled at the sound. Mole gaveHugh a prod in the shoulder with the point of a knife and Durganswore volubly. 

"None o' that thar, Harry!" he warned. "Don't hurt the kid. If youdo, we'll-----"

"Aw, shut up!" retorted the other, and they hurried on. 

By great effort Hugh said nothing, asked no questions, did not evenanswer the wolf-call. Instinct told him it would be better to do ashis captors had ordered, and now he pretended to feel resigned to hisfate---knowing that help was forthcoming. 

As they went on, sounds of a lively scuffle reached his ears, and hecould also hear the dull booming of surf, by which he knew that hecould be at no great distance from the shore. Behind him, evidentlyfollowing, again sounded the wolf-call, giving him courage and renewedhope. 

Durgan turned to him angrily. 

"What made you jump when you heard that thar howl?" he demanded. 

"Nothing. Where---where are we going?" Hugh ventured to ask, atlength, forgetting that he was not to utter a word of protest. "I'mdog-tired, and my knee aches---a sprain, I guess. "

"You lie!" retorted Mole fiercely, and he struck Hugh across themouth. 

"You'll soon have time enough to rest yourself, youngster, " addedDurgan in a kinder tone. "You're in luck that things ain't no worsefor you. "

But Hugh scarcely heard; at any rate, he paid no heed. Boilingwith rage at the insult, he gave one shout: "Billy! This way, scouts!" and struggling desperately, he managed to slip from hiscaptors' grasp. 

In another minute he had whirled around and was running as fast ashe could put foot to the ground. 

To his surprise, Mole and Durgan did not chase him. When he pausedfor an instant to rub his bruised knee and to look around, he dimlysaw them in the distance running to a spot where a crowd of menwere pushing and struggling to get into a boat. 

Presently he discerned a larger body of men hastening to the place, and in the dim light of the moon he saw that they were soldiers andseamen. 

While he stood lost in wonderment, Uncertain where to go, he heardfootsteps and familiar voices near. He gave the call of his oldpatrol, and Billy answered it immediately. 

The next minute, Billy rushed into view, and the two chums werereunited in a vigorous bear-hug of sheer, silent rejoicing. Theyfound words at last. 

"Billy, old scout, I was beginning to think I might never see youagain!"

"You were? Why, Hugh, I'd have looked for you from here to Yucatanand back again, twenty times over, by sea and land, before I'd giveup!" cried Billy, forgetting in his enthusiasm how near he had cometo the verge of despair. 

"I'm dying to know whatever happened to you, " he added. "But herecome the rest of the bunch; so you'll have to tell all of us yourstory. "

"It's soon told, " said Hugh; and after joyful greetings had beenexchanged, he told them all that had happened to him since hisunlucky morning stroll to the hut on the far-away beach. 

In their turn, they related the events of their search for him, anddescribed the fight around the cabin in which he had so lately been aprisoner. 

"And there's the end of the fight now, " said Norton, pointing tothe group of combatants and to a boat manned by five oarsmen whowere putting out to sea. "Look! There they go!---all of themwho managed to escape No! By Jove, the boat's coming back toshore! I suppose Uncle Sam's men threatened to shoot the rascalsif they didn't come back. "

"Serves 'em right!" said Chester. 

"Let's go over there and watch proceedings, " urged Alec. 

"I second the motion!" Hugh declared, eager to see the latestdevelopments. 

So without further discussion, they hurried over to the place, andwere in time to witness the capture of Bego and his gang. 

* * * * * * *

By morning, a sullen company of prisoners was put aboard the _Petrel_and conveyed southward to Key West for trial. 

The interval between their capture and the departure of the revenuecutter was spent in putting out the fire near Durgan's cove, allthat remained of the three adjoining shanties being a heap ofcharred logs and wind-swept ashes. Durgan's motor boat was fastenedby means of a long cable to the aft rail of the _Arrow_, whichwas commissioned to tow it to a wharf at Charlotte Harbor, whereit would be delivered to a brother of the smuggler. This brother, a thoroughly honest fisherman, was well known to Captain Vinton. 

Bego's ship, the _Esperanza_, remained at anchor off the cove. Arrangements were made for its safe delivery at Charlotte Harbor, as soon as a suitable crew could be sent to convey it to that haven. 

Hoping that his presence might not be required at the trial, thoughfully resigned to the probability of having to attend it, Hugh wroteout and signed a full statement of his experiences with the outlaws. 

This paper was also signed by Norton, Captain Vinton, and LieutenantDriscoll, as testifying their belief in its veracity. The captainof the _Petrel_ undertook to deliver it to the proper authorities, and it was eventually accepted in lieu of Hugh's personal testimony. 

Having attended to these matters, the crew of the _Arrow_ wentaboard about noon. The day was perfect for the return voyage, a fairbreeze blew against her weather-stained sails, and the ocean was asblue as sapphire. 

The entire party was glad to be on the sloop's clean decks once more;even Dave seemed happy and relieved when Durgan's Cove and itsoutlying shores faded into a velvety green blur along the horizon. So they left the scene of their adventures, and glided swiftly away"on the home stretch, " as Chester called it, under cloudless skies. 

CHAPTER XI

ABOARD THE "_ARROW_"

It was not until the second day of the voyage back toward Santariothat Hugh felt quite himself again. The nervous strain of hisexperiences as a captive would have been enough to exhaust him, and in addition he had suffered real buffeting and hardship atthe hands of his captors. 

Dave stretched a hammock for him on deck at the captain's orders, andthere Hugh spent nearly the entire first day of the homeward trip. 

The other boys and Norton diverted his few waking hours with storiesand riddles and simple games, and Captain Vinton, himself, contributedmore than one tale from his store of recollections. 

"Tell you what, boys, " the old captain said as he concluded one ofhis yarns, "we fellers these days meet with a few excitin'experiences now and then, but to get some idea of what lively timeson the water may be, go back to John Paul Jones and his day, or evento the sea fights of '62. "

"Have you read much of the history of those days, captain?" inquiredRoy Norton interestedly, while the boys leaned forward to hear thereply. 

"Son, " said Captain Vinton in answer, turning to Alec Sands, hisblue eyes alight with a keen expression, "Son, go to my cabinand bring me an old, worn book from the shelf there: 'Famous AmericanNaval Commanders, ' it is called. "

Until Alec's return, the captain looked out over the water withfar-seeing eyes, and the others, watching him, wondered what stirringscenes his imagination was picturing to him just then. 

He glanced up as Alec handed him the volume of naval history andgrasped it with the firm gentleness of a true book lover. He turnedit over thoughtfully, straightened its sagging covers, opened andclosed it several times, and finally spoke:

"Thar's the answer to yer question, Norton, " he said. "And that'sonly one of about a dozen hist'ries I've got on my old shelf. When times is dull or I'm waitin' fer a party who've gone intothe Everglades, or when the _Arrow_ is lyin' off shore in a deadcalm, then I start in at the first page of the book that happenster be on the end of the shelf, and I live over the old days ofthe privateers, when it meant somethin' to sail the seas. "

"Who is your _biggest_ hero?" asked Mark as the captain paused. 

The old man smiled humorously before he answered. 

"Wal', my biggest hero, " he said, "is the littlest hero on recordas a sea-fighter, I guess. Like Napoleon Bonaparte, his bigness wasnot in his body but in his mind. And that's Paul Jones of the_Bonhomme Richard_. "

As the captain pronounced the name of his hero, he struck his wornbook a resounding slap, and his jaws clicked in emphasis of hisstatement. 

"Can't you tell us something about him?" asked Chester, fascinatedby the old captain's earnestness. 

"That's the ticket---I mean, please do, " endorsed Billy heartily. 

"No, I can't do that, " was the deliberate reply, as the captain roseto relieve Dave at the tiller, "but you can all borry the book andread the historian's account of the battle between the _Serapis_and the _Bonhomme Richard_. I git so excited when I read that, I hey ter go put my head in a pail o' water to cool it off! Fact!You know that's whar the cap'n of the _Serapis_ calls out: 'Hevye struck?' And John Paul Jones shouts back: 'Struck! I am justbeginnin' ter fight!'"

As Captain Vinton straightened his rounded shoulders and deliveredthis emphatic quotation, he shook his fist at an imaginary enemyand then brought it down hard on the railing. Then he grinnedsheepishly. 

"You see how 'tis, " he said, laughing at himself as he moved away. "Guess I'll hev ter stop talkin' or go fer that pail o' water!"

The boys, left to themselves, discussed the theme that the captain'swords had suggested, and were rather ashamed to see how vague theirknowledge of the famous battle was. So, at Alec's suggestion, Norton agreed to read the account of the fight as given in thecaptain's book; and grouped about Hugh's hammock, the boys listenedeagerly. 

"That makes our experiences on picket duty seem tame in comparison, "said Alec, commenting on the story when Norton had closed the book. 

"We were not all on the firing line, " replied the young man, smiling. "I'll venture to say that Hugh did not find his share at all tame. "

Hugh smiled and nodded ruefully as his mind flew back to his dangeroussituation as a captive of the desperate filibusters, and he felt thathe could understand a little of what it meant to be in the thick ofthe fight. 

"Me, too, " exclaimed Billy, shuddering at a sudden recollection. "I haven't told you fellows that I came near having my ear shotoff, that time the other night when I was separated from the restof you for a while. Excuse me from anything nearer real battle firethan that!"

Just at that moment, a soft, regular thump-thump-thump from the deckbehind Hugh's hammock made all the boys turn quickly. 

There stood Dave, skillfully flinging gayly colored hoops over a postat some distance from him. 

"Oh, ho! A game of ring-toss, is it?" cried Chester, rising eagerly. "Say, boys, let's form rival teams and have a tournament. "

"Good!" echoed Billy. "The Pickets versus the Pirates!"

"That sounds exciting!" called Hugh, sitting up in the hammock. "Countme in on that, boys. Guess I can get up long enough to take my turnnow and then. "

"Let Dave and Mr. Norton choose sides, " suggested Alec, "Dave forthe Pirates and Mr. Norton for the Pickets. "

"Hurrah!" cried Mark. "On with the game!"

In less time than it takes to tell it, Dave, grinning broadly at hisprominence, and Norton, entering into the contest with his usualspirit of enthusiasm, had chosen sides and a list was hastilywritten and posted on the cabin wall as follows:

Pirates vs Pickets

Dave Norton

Hugh Billy

Chester Alec

Mark Captain Vinton

"Oh, but I can't play!" protested the captain. "I've got my handsfull with the _Arrow_!"

"We'll take turns and spell you at the helm, " returned Norton. "All hands on board are enlisted in this fight. "

Pleased at his insistence, the old captain yielded the wheel wheneverit came his turn to toss, and he proved to be an adept at the game, to everybody's delight. 

Norton and Dave had agreed that the contest should consist of fivecomplete rounds, giving just twenty opportunities to each side. Only the total successful tosses would determine the winning score, but the best individual records would decide who should be theteam captains in subsequent games. 

The fun of the thing entered into every one of the contestants, yetnot one of them failed to put his best efforts into the game. 

"Now we'll see some accurate shooting, " called Billy as Hugh tookthe rings for his fourth turn. 

"No fair trying to rattle me, " returned Hugh, laughing good-naturedly. "I'm still the interesting invalid. "

"Hush!" whispered the irrepressible Billy quite audibly. "Don't saya word, boys! It might shake his nerve, you know, and he mightsuffer a relapse!"

"You teaser!" commented Hugh, beginning his play. 

One after another, Hugh steadily tossed the rings over the post. 

"Pshaw! You can't disturb him, " ejaculated Alec. "He is as calmas the sea is just now. "

"Five!" counted Chester softly. "Six! You put every one over thistime, Hugh. Billy's jollying just inspired you!"

"And now it is his turn, " said Hugh, returning to his hammock. "Nowwe shall see something!"

Billy flushed a little, grinned, set his teeth, poised his bodyfirmly, and then swung into the position of the famous "disk thrower. "

Thump! The first ring struck the deck a good foot beyond the post, rebounded, and rolled rapidly toward the railing. 

Roy Norton stopped it with his foot and called, "Steady, Billy!Take your time. "

Thump! The second ring, tossed more cautiously, dropped at leastsix inches in front of the goal. 

Thump! Thump! Thump! Three more landed in quick succession, drapingthemselves gracefully against the standard that upheld the post. 

"One more, Billy. Make this one count, " coached his captain urgently. 

By this time, Billy's face was scarlet and his hand shaking. He tooka long breath, fixed his eye on the top of the slender post, andtossed the ring desperately. It fell well to the right of the goaland rolled up against Dave's feet. 

Dave quickly stooped to pick it up, trying to hide the wide smilethat parted his lips. 

Billy's scout friends made no attempt to be so polite. Pickets andPirates alike, they burst into a roar of laughter. 

Captain Vinton, his weather-beaten face wrinkled into a dozenhumorous lines, called out:

"Billy, words is sometimes like a boomerang---they fly back and ketchye, ef ye don't watch out!"

And so the contest progressed; now luck favored the Pirates, and againCaptain Vinton's skill brought up the uncertain score of the Pickets. 

At the end of the final round, however, Dave's team had a cleanbalance of ten counts over the combined records of the Pickets, thewinners showing a total of ninety-five successful throws out of apossible one hundred and twenty. 

Captain Vinton had the best individual score, securing twenty-sixout of a possible thirty points, while Hugh, thanks perhaps toBilly's inspiring comments, stood next with a record of twenty-four. 

The sun was setting redly over an almost calm sea as the gameswere finished. Dave, beaming at the success of his team, vanishedwithout urging and soon the welcome odors of supper cooking werewafted to the eager nostrils of the hungry boys. 

That evening they all gathered around the old captain as he sat atthe helm and guided the lazily-moving craft, begging him for anothertale from his own reminiscences or from his favorite history. 

"Wal', boys, " agreed the captain at length, "I'll tell you aboutone sea fight that I almost witnessed myself. Fact is, I was alittle too young to be thar, but my father was mighty nigh bein' inthe thick of it, and I've heard him tell the tale a hundred times efI hev once. 

"It was in March, '62, " the captain resumed after a little pause. "The North was consid'rably stirred up over rumors of how theConfederates hed raised the _Merrimac_ and made out of her a terribleironclad vessel, warranted to resist all ord'nary attacks. Thenthese rumors were followed by news of the destruction of two sailin'frigates, the _Cumberland_ and the _Congress_. 

"The Union forces were pretty uneasy when they heard what hedhappened off Hampton Roads, but they were all pinnin' their faithto a little new ironclad just built on Long Island and alreadyspeedin' south ter meet the _Merrimac_. My old dad, servin' onthe _Roanoke_, was lucky enough to see both them craft:---thebig, clumsy _Merrimac_, all covered with railroad iron and smearedwith grease, and the nifty little _Monitor_, that they said lookedlike 'a cheese box on a raft'!

"Wal', 'course you boys hev all read about what happened when thelittle fellow steamed out ter meet the big fellow, the day after thefrigates were destroyed. 

"Fer four hours, Dad said, the two ironclads jest pestered each otherwith hot fire, but the shot and shell slid off them like water from aduck's back. The little _Monitor_ darted around the big _Merrimac_like a bee buzzin' round a boy that had plagued it. 

"Thar wa'n't no great harm done---except that Lieutenant Worden, whowas in command of the Monitor, got hurt by the bits of a shell thatdrove into his face---but the little ironclad hed proved two things. Fust, that she could hold her own; and next that the day of woodenvessels in naval warfare was over. 

"As you boys know, warships now-a-days are all ironclad. Folks heycalled 'em 'indestructible, ' but I guess thar ain't no sech wordallowable any more. Between the new explosives and the airships---wal', they say we ain't heard the last word yet, by a long shot!"

The old captain rose as he spoke, shaking his head thoughtfully andgazing out over the sea and into the sky. 

"Wal', boys, off to yer bunks now! We'll hev a fairly calm night, butthar'll be wet decks to-morrow!"

CHAPTER XII

A SURPRISING ADVENTURE

The captain's prophecy was literally fulfilled, and the boys had noopportunity for fairweather games the next day. Instead, clad inoilskins, they lounged about the wet decks, watching the captain'sskillful handling of the boat, ringing the big fog bell when theatmosphere grew thick, and clinging to the railing when the slooppitched and tossed restlessly on the heaving sea. 

Dave retired as usual in rough weather into sullen silence, comingon deck most reluctantly only when his services were demanded bythe captain. 

Late in the day, the storm increased to a gale of some littleviolence, and the captain decided to make for the nearest harbor. He had hoped to reach the home haven that night, but his policywas to meet disappointment rather than to run risks. 

"Mebbe I hev a surprise up my sleeve fer you boys, " Captain Lem said, his eyes twinkling as he saw their long faces on hearing the newsof delay. "Wouldn't mind addin' a little excitement ter the end ofthe trip, would ye?"

"We're aching for it, " returned Billy promptly. "This has been anawfully long day, you know, captain. "

"Wal', ef I've got my bearin's all right, we'll spend the evenin' ina right cheerful place. That's all I kin say now, but you boys gocollect your belongin's, so's we kin land fer the night ef mycalc'lations hold good. "

Just as the early darkness of the rainy night shut down over therolling sea, the boys discovered a gleaming light, high and steady, not far off toward the Florida coast. 

"Jimmy!" cried Billy excitedly. "Bet the captain is going to take usto a lighthouse for the night!"

"Can't be your uncle's light, Mark, where we saw the spongers on theway down, " commented Chester thoughtfully. "We're too near home forthat. "

"I have an _idea_---" began Hugh slowly. 

"And so have I!" interrupted Alec, glancing at Mark. 

At that moment, Roy Norton began to ring the fog bell under thecaptain's directions. 

"Ding! Ding! Ding, ding, ding!" resounded the heavy iron tongue. 

There was a pause, and then the signal was repeated. A longersilence followed and again the slow, clear signal was twice repeated. 

By this time, the captain had guided his dauntless little vesselinto slightly quieter waters, although she still pitched and tossedin a way that would have alarmed a "landlubber. "

Then came a new sound, louder than the noise of the pounding waves, deeper than the clang of the iron bell. 

"Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom!" An answering signal had broken thesilence where the steady light shone. 

Mark started, as though recognizing the sound. 

"Why, that-----" he began bewilderedly, "that is the signal gun atRed Key! Captain, are you signaling to my father?"

"Jest so, " Captain Vinton replied. "Keeper Anderson knows my knockon his door!"

"How shall we land?" asked Chester excitedly, as he saw Dave makingready to drop anchor. 

At that moment a rocket went streaking up toward heaven and a secondlater a slender rope fell writhing across the deck, where Roy stoodswinging a torch. 

"Hurray!" called Hugh, seizing the rope just as Norton, at thecaptain's orders, also grasped it. "Hurray! It's the breechesbuoy!"

It will be recalled by those who followed the adventures of "_TheBoy Scouts of the Life Saving Crew_, " that Hugh and Billy, Chesterand Alec had been at the Red Key Station on the night of a thrillingrescue. They had accompanied and in a slight way assisted thelife-savers on their patrols, at the launching of the life boat, and in the final use of the breeches buoy. 

It was most exciting to return to the scene of their memorableexperience in this unexpected fashion. 

The boys hauled willingly on the rope and soon it was taut, the oddconveyance swinging by the deck railing. 

"You go first, Mark. While yer father knows my knock and realizesthat I didn't give my danger signal, still he may be a mite anxiousto see you, knowin' you was comin' home with me on the _Arrow_. "

Obeying the captain's directions and grasping his waterproof bundleof clothes, Mark thrust his legs into the breeches buoy, the signalwas given, and the trip through the waves began. 

Soon the strange vehicle was back again, and this time Chester, buttoning his oilskins about him closely, was ordered ashore. 

In a brief time Hugh, and then Billy, Alec, and Norton had followedthe others. 

Meanwhile, Captain Vinton, with Dave's help, had made everythingshipshape on board the _Arrow_. Then, sending Dave shoreward inthe breeches buoy, the captain himself, true to tradition, waited tobe the last to leave his ship. 

Although they had not encountered a moment of real danger, the boyshad been given an experience of actual rescue. When Captain Vintonjoined them on shore, they greeted him enthusiastically and thenstood back to watch his meeting with Keeper Anderson. 

The latter grasped the captain's hand in a hearty grip. 

"Good for you, Lem, you old sea-dog!" cried the keeper. "You didn'tscare us any and it was great fun for my boy and his friends. Markhas gone in to see his mother---she'll be some surprised---and totell her to fix up some hot coffee and things for you 'survivors. '"

"Haw! haw! haw!" laughed the old captain. "This was the easiestshipwreck I ever managed to survive! He! he! he!"

In great good nature the two men walked toward the keeper's house, while the boys followed, eagerly renewing their acquaintance withthe stalwart men of the life-saving crew. 

Roy Norton was an interested observer, and when he, too, had met Mrs. Anderson and Ruth, and heard the story of their first excitingencounter, he no longer wondered at the boys' enthusiasm. 

That night the crowd slept, as four of them had before, in hastilyarranged shakedowns; and when morning dawned, they looked out upon asea so blue and sparkling they could scarcely realize that it wasthe gray, angry, heaving expanse of the night before. 

The _Arrow_ dipped and rose jauntily on the sapphire water, givingno sign that she, too, had spent a restless night pulling and tuggingat her deeply embedded anchor. 

After an early breakfast, the four boys said their farewells to Markand Ruth and their parents, and, with the captain and Norton, wentout to the _Arrow_ in boats manned by members of the life-saving crew. 

Not many hours later, they reached Alec's home in Santario, andthere they found Mr. Sands, waiting a little anxiously for theirsafe return. He had learned from the morning papers that theprevious night's storm had been severe at sea, and he had notknown how or where the _Arrow_ might have weathered the gale. 

When he had been told of the "rescue" off Red Key Life SavingStation, he exclaimed impatiently, "Why in the name of sense, didn'tyou telephone me from Red Key? Here I have spent many hours inneedless anxiety. "

The boys looked at one another in silence. 

"It simply never occurred to us that we were back within communicatingdistance, " replied Alec at last. "We haven't seen or heard atelephone since we left home. "

"And really, Mr. Sands, " said Roy Norton quickly, "when you hearwhat strange, unusual experiences the boys have had, you will notwonder at their forgetting the convenience of a little, every-daymatter like the telephone. For myself, I offer no excuse. Ishould have been more thoughtful. But I, too, have dropped thecustoms and responsibilities of home life about as thoroughly ashave the boys, I am afraid. "

"That is all right, Norton, " said Mr. Sands. "I spoke hastily, for my nerves were a little frazzled. 

"Now, boys, make yourselves comfortable and clean, and then come outon the veranda and tell me the tale of the exciting trip. "

It was an eager quartette of boys who responded to this invitation;and when they finally started to relate their experiences, Mr. Sandsfound it necessary to hear them in turn in order to get any clearidea of connecting events. 

At length, however, he had followed them on their trip south, inimagination; had seen the panting tarpon on the deck of the _Arrow_;had taken the winding waterways into the Everglades; had encounteredthe revenue cutter and the filibuster; had watched through a nightof adventure with the scouts on picket duty; and had finally swungsafely through the dashing waves to the Life Saving Station. 

"Well, boys, I little thought when I put you aboard Captain Lem'ssloop for a little cruise south that you would see so much varietyand excitement. But if you are not sorry, I am not. You are allhome again, safe and sound, and none the worse for your experiences. Take it easy, now, for the rest of your stay here and have the besttime you can. "

This advice the boys were not at all reluctant to follow. For a dayor two they lounged about the broad piazzas in hammocks and easychairs, reading books from Mr. Sands' well stocked library or fromAlec's own bookshelf. 

On the second evening of this quiet home life, however, Billy'suneasy spirit led him to say:

"Fellow scouts, I move you, sirs, that we take to the road. My hikingmuscles are aching for use. We have sailed and paddled and motored. Now I propose, sirs, that we tramp. "

"Second the motion!" echoed Chester. 

"What do you think of the idea, Alec?" asked Hugh, turning to theiryoung host. "Will your father think we are ungrateful guests if wego off for a day or two so soon after the cruise?"

"We'll plan a trip, " replied Alec readily, "and submit the schemeto him to-night. If he has no objections, we will telephone Markand ask him to join us, and perhaps Norton can go along, too. "

Alec's suggestion was carried out, and Mr. Sands not only approvedthe plan but added interest to it by producing some excellent roadmaps and proposing a tour of adventure. 

"Suppose, " said he, "instead of traveling as one company, you divideyour forces, three of you taking one route and three another toyour night's camping place. Here is a good spot to camp, "indicating it on the map, "and I will send the machine there withthe essential supplies so that you can 'hike' without being heavilyburdened. How does that strike you?"

"As being far better than our first plan, " applauded Billy. 

The other boys agreed enthusiastically, and the details were promptlyarranged. 

Early the next morning, as the arching sky and gray waters began totake on a rosy glow from the approaching sunrise, the automobile shotout of the driveway between the palms and down the shell road in thedirection of Red Key, carrying Alec and Chester to meet Mark Anderson. 

The whir of the motor drowned the twitterings of the awakening birds, but could not dull the fresh odor of the jasmine, nor the beauty ofthe flowering vines and dew-wet hedges. 

Even Chester was stirred by the "newness" of the whole world. 

"Cripes, Alec, as Captain Vinton would say, this morning air and theview are worth crawling out at an unearthly hour to enjoy!" heexclaimed. "That ocean looks about a million miles wide, too; youcan't even tell where the sky begins. "

"There is Mark!" was Chester's next comment as the machine swungaround a curve that had hidden an intersecting road. 

"'Morning, Mark, " called Alec in greeting as the two boys jumped outof the car to join the waiting lad. "Now we're off!"

He turned to the chauffeur, assuring himself that the man understoodthe directions for reaching their camp with supplies late thatafternoon, and then fell into step with the other scouts for theirall-day hike. Beneath their feet the broken shells of the roadcrackled, overhead the towering palms waved, near the roadside thestiff grass bent noisily in the breeze, and around them momentarilyday grew clearer and brighter. 

As the morning advanced and the boys strode on nearing the pine woods, robins and bluebirds, shrikes and chewinks greeted them; and as theystopped for luncheon near a broad, open trail in the barren woodlanda buzzard sailed above the tree-tops and peered at them curiously. 

In the meantime Norton, Hugh and Billy had started promptly twentyminutes after the departure of the machine. Billy was in highspirits and declared that he scented adventure in the air. Foran hour, however, nothing occurred to disturb the peaceful swayof Nature, and Billy was about to abandon his attitude of expectation. 

Suddenly the stillness was broken by the uneven rattle of rapidlymoving wheels over the shell road. Then the clatter of pounding hoofsfurther shattered the silence. 

"It comes!" shouted Billy dramatically. Around a bend in the roadcame a galloping white horse, old and lean, dragging at its heels areeling hurdy-gurdy cart. 

Billy sprang for the horse's head. Almost at his touch the oldcreature stopped submissively. 

"The poor old nag is all in, " said Billy sympathetically, pattingher quivering neck. 

Meanwhile Hugh and Roy Norton had righted the music cart, and Hughimpulsively seized the handle of the machine and turned it to testits condition. 

"Hi---yi---yi!"

A dark-skinned foreigner came into sight, running toward them downthe road. 

He frowned at them darkly and dashed up to the old horse, swinginga short whip threateningly. Before the lash could fall on thestill trembling beast, however, Hugh and Billy had sprung simultaneouslyupon the man. 

"None of that!" cried Hugh, wresting the whip from the man's grasp. 

The infuriated foreigner turned upon him with an avalanche of rapidwords, struggling to break away from his captors. 

At that Norton stepped into view before him. With a few gestures, a few faltering Italian and French words, and with great calmnessand good nature, he managed to tell the man that his wagon was safe, and that the boys were willing to let him go if he would not beatthe poor, tired, old horse. 

Norton's manner, more than anything else, impressed the angry man. His scowls gave way to a pleasant expression and he noddedsmilingly. The boys stepped back and the hurdy-gurdy driver busiedhimself at once, testing the harness and wheels and even pattingthe thin old nag. 

Then he climbed upon his seat and gathered up the reins. Hughpicked up the fallen whip and handed it to him. The dark foreignersmiled suddenly and, reaching over, put the whip into its socket. Then, clucking to his horse, he moved slowly down the road. 

"Well, what do you think of that?" cried Billy, puzzled at thesudden capitulation. 

"That?" returned Norton. "That is a bit of southern Europe---tempestand sunshine, rage and child-like faith combined. "

"Like a small boy, he needed to be managed, " said Hugh, "and youknew how to do it. "

With a new respect for Roy Norton, the two scouts joined him againon their inland hike. But they did not forget the incident, nor didthey fail to relate it that evening to the other three boys, whomthey found already established at camp around a blazing fire. 

The next morning the returning parties exchanged routes for thehomeward trip, but nothing more exciting was encountered thanglimpses of orange groves, of pine barrens, of cypress swamps, and of numberless birds. 

But their "hiking muscles" had been well exercised and they feltnearer to the heart of Florida because of their long tramp. 

There were a number of letters waiting for the boys, some from theirhome people and others from the scouts who were enjoying the"Geological Survey" at Pioneer Camp. These the boys shared, eagerlydiscussing the news and wondering what plans would be made for thefall and winter. 

Some of the things that actually did happen the following fall arerelated in "The Boy Scouts of the Flying Squadron. "

THE END