"Now what"s the answer? Why the men got here, and, thinking they might be followed, tried a simple trick. They doubled their trail."
"What"s that?"
"Why, some of them went off to the left, walked on a little way, doubled, or turned, and came back, joining the others, who had turned to the right and kept on."
"Why was that?"
"Because they wanted to fool us. Naturally a person, not looking carefully, would see both lines of footprints, and would reason that the men might have divided, or that there might have been two separate parties. He wouldn"t know which trail to take. He might pick out the right one, and, again, he might select the wrong one."
"And you say the right one is----"
"To the right. We"ll follow that. If they think to fool us, or make us divide our forces, they"re going to be disappointed. Another thing."
"What"s that, Blake?" asked Joe, as he noticed his chum leaning over and carefully examining the marks in the dirt.
"Why, naturally they wouldn"t go to the left, as that eventually leads to the lighthouse. They want to keep some distance from that. Of course they"d go to the right. And here"s where we go after "em. Come on!"
There was no hesitation now. Joe was as sure as his chum that the wreckers had gone farther down the coast, perhaps to some other high cliff where they could set up their lantern.
They followed the path. The trail was plain now, showing that a number of men had pa.s.sed along. Footprints were the only clues, however, a number overlapping one another.
"What shall we do if we find them?" asked Joe.
"I--I don"t know," answered Blake. This was when they had been following the new trail for about an hour.
"We can"t tackle "em alone, that"s sure," went on Joe.
"No, but we can--Hark! What"s that?" whispered Blake, suddenly.
They listened intently. Far off they could hear the roar of the surf on the beach; but, closer at hand, was another sound. It was the clink of metal. And then came the distant murmur of men"s voices.
"Joe, I think we"ve found them," whispered Blake. "Come on, but don"t make any noise."
Cautiously they crept forward, the sounds becoming more and more plain.
Suddenly they heard a loud voice exclaim:
"There! I guess that will do the business! And those fellows won"t find us here!"
"That"s them!" whispered Blake in Joe"s ear. "I know the voice of Hemp Danforth. We"ve found "em, Joe!"
CHAPTER XXI
THE CAPTURE
Impulsively the boys clasped hands as they realized what the discovery meant. They had come upon the new hiding place of the wreckers, and the chances were good for capture if no alarm was given.
Joe, perhaps, felt more elated than did Blake, though the latter was glad that his theory in regard to the direction taken by the men had proved correct.
But Joe felt that now he had a better chance to prove his father innocent of the charge made against him--that he was involved with the wreckers.
"We"ve got "em!" he whispered.
"Yes--we"ve got "em--to get!" agreed Blake. "No slip-up this time."
In whispers they consulted, and decided to creep forward a short distance to make sure of their first surmise that the men, whose voices they heard, were really the wreckers.
"We want to be certain about it," warned Blake, in a cautious whisper.
"That"s right," agreed his chum. "Go ahead, and I"ll come after you."
Cautiously they advanced until they were in a position to look forward and make out a number of men working on a sort of mound of rock that rose from the surface of the cliff.
"This is a better place, from their standpoint, than the other,"
whispered Blake. "A light can be seen farther."
"Yes, and they"re putting up the same lantern on a rock pile," remarked Joe. Both lads recognized the apparatus they had seen before. The men were busily engaged in setting it in place, evidently working fast to make up for lost time.
"It"s the same gang," observed Blake; "and they must know of some vessel that is to pa.s.s here soon, or they wouldn"t be in such a hurry. Probably they count on the steersman mistaking this light for the one at Rockypoint, and standing in close here. Up at Rockypoint there is deep water close in sh.o.r.e, but it shoals very fast both ways, up or down the beach. So if a vessel saw a false light, and stood close in to get her bearings, she"d be on the rocks in no time."
"That"s right," agreed Joe. "She"d be wrecked and these fellows would get what they could out of her, caring nothing for the lives lost.
Blake, we"ve got to stop "em!"
"We sure have."
"Not only to clear my father, but to save others," went on Joe. "What"s best to be done?"
"Well, we can"t capture "em by ourselves; that"s sure," went on Blake, each lad speaking in a cautious whisper. "The best thing for us to do is to go back, I think, and tell Tom Cardiff. He"ll know what to do."
"Maybe one of us had better stay here to keep watch. They may skip out."
"No danger. They don"t know that we have followed "em, or that we are here."
"Then we"ll go back together."
"Sure, and give the alarm. Then to make the capture, if we can."
For a few minutes longer the eager boys looked on, unseen by the men whom they had trailed. The wreckers were busy putting up their lantern, and were making as much noise, talking and hammering on the apparatus, as though they were far removed from possible discovery.
"Well, we"d better be going," suggested Blake, after a bit; and they made their departure without causing any suspicious sounds, so that the wreckers had no idea, as far as our heroes could ascertain, that they were being spied upon.
In order to save time, as soon as they got to the nearest small settlement, Joe and Blake hired a carriage, and drove to the lighthouse.
As may well be imagined their report caused considerable excitement.