There was a period of silence, and Dave moved back as quietly as possible to where he had left his companions.
"Rumney and Pardell are there, in a long cave," he whispered. "They are waiting for Geswick and, I think, Jasniff."
"But where are Captain Sanders and Smiley?" asked the shipowner"s son.
"I don"t know. Perhaps they are watching Jasniff and Geswick-or maybe they have captured those rascals."
"Oh, let me get at Pardell and Rumney!" cried Giles Borden. "I"ll teach them to rob me!" And he started forward, flourishing a heavy stick he had picked up.
"Wait! wait!" returned Dave, and caught him by the arm. "Don"t go yet.
Let us lie low until Geswick comes, and maybe Jasniff. We may be able to capture all of them."
"Can we handle so many?" asked Roger.
"I think so. Anyway we can try. Remember, Captain Sanders and Smiley may be following Geswick and Jasniff, and if they are, they"ll come to our aid."
"I"ll wait, but it"s a hard thing to do, don"t you know," grumbled the Englishman who had been robbed.
"We had better set a guard, so that we are not surprised," advised Phil. "Supposing we scatter around the rocks and in the vines?"
This was agreed upon, and it was also agreed that Dave should give a whistle when he wanted an attack made.
After this came a long period of waiting. All remained silent, until, of a sudden, everybody was startled by a distant cannon shot.
"What in the world can that mean?" cried Phil, who lay close to our hero.
"It"s a shot from a ship"s cannon, and it came from the direction of the sh.o.r.e!" returned Dave. "It may be some sort of a signal."
"Do you suppose it"s a summons to Pardell and Rumney?"
"It may be. Wait, I"ll look into the cave again and see what they are doing."
Losing no time, our hero crawled forward once more to the position he had before occupied. Then he pushed the vines aside and looked into the long cave.
He could not suppress a cry of consternation. The two Englishmen had vanished!
"They are gone!" he called to his companions.
"Gone!" repeated Phil and Roger.
"Don"t tell me that!" fairly shrieked Giles Borden. "I must catch them and get back my money!"
"Where did they go to?" asked Billy Dill, as he pushed through the curtain of vines.
"They must have left the cave by some other opening," answered Dave.
"Come on, we"ll soon find out!" And into the cave he rushed, his chums and the others in the crowd following.
"I see another opening!" cried Merwell, a minute later. "Look!" And he pointed down a pa.s.sageway to the right.
"That"s the way they must have gone!" exclaimed Giles Borden. "After them, all of you! If I get back my money, I"ll reward you well!" And on he sped, with Merwell close at his heels and the others following.
"I don"t know if we are on the right track or not," said Dave, to Phil and Roger. "This cave may have other openings."
Hardly had he spoken when there came a yell from Giles Borden, followed by a cry from Link Merwell. Both had fallen into a small hole that was filled with water. Each was much shaken up, but unhurt.
"It"s a broken neck somebody will get if we are not careful," said one of the sailors. "I"d rather be on the deck of a ship any day than on an island like this."
Soon they were out in the open once more. They were on a rise of ground, and not a great distance away they could see the sh.o.r.e and the rolling ocean.
"A ship!" cried Roger.
"But not the _Golden Eagle_!" returned Dave. "It must be the vessel that was to stop for the Englishmen."
"It is! It is!" bawled Giles Borden. "And look, there they are on the sh.o.r.e, ready to embark, all of them!"
"Yes, and Jasniff is with them!" added Dave, Phil, and Roger in a breath.
CHAPTER XXVIII-IN WHICH THE ENEMY SAILS AWAY
It was a startling discovery, and for the moment Dave and the others did not know what to do.
"Do you see anything of Captain Sanders, or Smiley?" questioned our hero.
"Not a thing," returned the senator"s son. "It"s strange, too."
"Oh, cannot we stop them in some manner?" pleaded Giles Borden.
"Come on-we"ll do what we can!" cried Phil.
"That"s the talk!" put in old Billy Dill. "Oh, for a gatling gun that we might train on "em!" he added.
All were calculating the distance to the sh.o.r.e. Between them and the water was a slight hollow, overgrown with brushwood and vines. How long would it take to find a path through that hollow?
"No use in staying here," was Dave"s comment. "We"ll get there somehow. But keep out of sight, if you can. We don"t want them to discover us until the last minute." All moved forward toward the hollow. By walking well over to the left they managed to keep a distant row of palms between themselves and those who were at the water"s edge.
But progress was slow, as all soon discovered. The hollow was a treacherous one, full of soft spots and pitfalls. Less than a hundred feet had been covered when two of the sailors went down up to their waists, and a second later Roger followed.
"Hold on, Roger! I"ll help you!" cried Dave, and he and Phil ran to their chum"s a.s.sistance. They did not dare to go near the soft spot and so all they could do was to throw the senator"s son a stout vine for use as a rope, and then haul him out by sheer strength. In the meantime the others went to the rescue of the two sailors, and they were hauled out in similar fashion.
"This island certainly is the limit!" gasped Roger, when he was on firm ground once more. "I wouldn"t live here if they made me a present of the whole thing!"
"That"s right," returned Phil. "Because, if you lived here, you might some day find yourself buried before your time!" And this quaint way of expressing it made all of the boys grin in spite of their excitement.
Beyond the hollow another difficulty confronted them. Here were some sharp rocks, with deep cuts between. They had to climb over the rocks with extreme care and do not a little jumping, all of which consumed much valuable time.