"Might as well," answered Sam. "It"s better than scratching yourself and tearing your clothing in those thorn bushes."
The boys took to the trail and pa.s.sed along for a distance of quarter of a mile or more. It wound in and out around the rocks and trees and had evidently been made by some natives bringing out wild fruits and the like from the forest.
"It doesn"t seem to be leading us to anywhere," was d.i.c.k"s comment. "I don"t know whether to go on or not."
Nevertheless, they kept on, until they came to a sharp turn around a series of rocks. As they moved ahead they suddenly saw a glare of light cross the rocks and then disappear.
"What was that?" asked Sam, somewhat startled.
"A light," answered d.i.c.k.
"I know. But where did it come from?"
"It was like the flash of a bicycle gas lamp," said Tom.
"There are no bicycles on this trail," said d.i.c.k.
"I know that, too, d.i.c.k. But it was like that kind of a lamp."
Just then the flash of light reappeared, and now they saw it came from a point on the trail ahead of them. They listened intently and heard somebody approaching.
"Several men are coming!" whispered d.i.c.k.
"Not from our yacht?" said Tom.
"I don"t think so."
"Can they be from the _Josephine_?" asked Sam.
"That remains to be seen."
"If they are from the _Josephine_ what shall we do?"
"I think the best thing we can do is to keep out of sight and watch them."
"But they may locate the cave and take the treasure away," said Tom.
"We have got to run that risk--unless we want to fight them."
"Oh, if only we could get our crowd here to help us!" murmured Sam.
"We may be mistaken and they may be strangers to us. Come, let us hide."
Losing no time, the three Rover boys stepped into the bushes beside the trail. As they did so the other party came closer, and the lads saw that they carried not only an acetylene gas lamp, but also a ship"s lantern and several other things. The party was made up of Sid Merrick, Tad Sobber, Cuffer and Sh.e.l.ley.
"It"s mighty rough walking here," they heard Tad Sobber complain. "I"ve got a thorn right through my shoe. Wait till I pull it out, will you?"
And he came to a halt not over ten yards from where the Rover boys were hidden.
"You didn"t have to come, Tad," said his uncle, somewhat harshly. "I told you to suit yourself."
"Oh, I want to see that treasure cave as well as you do," answered Sobber.
"I"d like to know if this is the right trail or not," came from Sh.e.l.ley. "You ought to have brought that Spaniard along, to make sure."
"Doranez is no good!" growled Sid Merrick, who was by no means in the best of humor. "He likes his bottle too well. If he would only keep sober it would be different."
"Why don"t you take his liquor from him?" asked Cuffer. "I"d do it quick enough if I was running this thing."
"He says he won"t tell us a thing more if we cut off his grog. He is getting mighty ugly."
"Maybe he wants to sell out to those Rovers," suggested Sh.e.l.ley.
"He wouldn"t dare to do that--I know too much about him," answered Sid Merrick. "No, it"s because he wants too big a share of the treasure."
"Do you suppose the fellows on the steam yacht have landed here yet?"
asked Tad, as he prepared to go on.
"I don"t know. They are laying-to outside of the reef. I reckon they don"t know anything of the landing on the other side of the island,"
answered his uncle. "Come on, we haven"t any time to waste if we want to head them off. I didn"t dream they"d get here so quickly."
"I guess that fellow Wingate was no good," came from Cuffer. "He didn"t delay the steam yacht in the least."
"Maybe he got caught at his funny work," suggested Sh.e.l.ley, hitting the nail directly on the head, as the reader already knows.
Casting the light of the acetylene gas lamp ahead of them, the party from the _Josephine_ moved on, directly past the spot where the Rovers were in hiding. The boys hardly dared to breathe for fear of discovery. They stood stock still until the others were all but out of sight.
"This is interesting," murmured Tom. "They must have landed on the other side of the island."
"Yes, and Merrick hired that Walt Wingate to play us foul!" cried Sam.
"What shall we do next, d.i.c.k?" he continued anxiously. "They act as if they expect to get that treasure to-night!"
"I don"t know what to do exactly," answered d.i.c.k. "But one thing is certain--we must follow them up and prevent their getting hold of that treasure if we possibly can!"
CHAPTER XXI
SCARING OFF THE ENEMY
It was easy enough for d.i.c.k to say they must follow up their enemies and prevent Sid Merrick and his party from gaining possession of the treasure, but how all this was to be accomplished was another matter.
In the first place, the other party numbered four as against their three. More than this, those from the _Josephine_ were heavily armed, while the Rovers had brought with them nothing but a single pistol.
"It"s well enough to talk," whispered Sam, after Sid Merrick and his crowd had pa.s.sed on, "but if we tackle them in the open the chances are we"ll get the worst of it."
"We may get a chance at them in some other way," answered d.i.c.k. "We have this advantage, we know where they are and they don"t know we are on the isle."